


Arkanae - Of Space & Time

by 1Kamiro7



Category: The Medoran Chronicles - Lynette Noni
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 37,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26809693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Kamiro7/pseuds/1Kamiro7
Summary: Come on an adventure with the Jennings sisters, well, cousins; Alex and Valarie, as they explore the world of Medora and the Arkanae Academy. Watch as they find their gifts, fight dangerous foes and find their way home. Or at least, Alex wants to find a way home. For Valarie, it's a dream come true...
Kudos: 1





	1. Enter Valarie Jennings

"Honey, if there was any other way, your mother and I would take you with us in a heartbeat."

Alexandra Jennings stared out the car window into the dense forest and sighed deeply into her phone. "I know, Dad. But it still sucks."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," came her father's reply. "But the International Exchange Academy is one of the best schools in the country. They'll take good care of you. And anyway, you've got Val with you remember?"

Alex looked over to the other side of the car. Sitting there was the closest thing Alex had to a sister, her orphaned cousin Valarie Jennings.

She was wearing some of her favourite clothes, a light blue tank top, cargo pants leading into combat boots, her onyx black hair swept to one side, cut short on the other, and finally, her signature black sleeveless leather jacket, perfectly showing off the tattoo on her left shoulder. Valarie had that tattoo for as long as Alex could remember, which was a very long time. Never had it stretched or faded as she grew, and even Valarie herself doesn't even know how she got it. The tattoo itself was a four-pointed star with a ring around it. Simple, but artistic.

But back to her conversation with her father.

Her mother and father had been offered the opportunity to study under a famous archaeologist—a once in a lifetime invitation—but there was a catch. They couldn't take anyone with them, which had led to Alex and Valarie having to be shipped off to a boarding school for the rest of the school year—eight whole months.

And it got worse. Not only were they leaving her behind, but they were also headed to some middle-of-nowhere dig-site in Siberia—as in, Russia—which was in a complete communication dead-zone. No phone coverage. No Wi-Fi signal. Not even a postman. After today, Alex wouldn't be hearing from them again until they returned at the beginning of June for the summer holidays.

"I just hate that I won't be able to contact you," Alex said, not for the first time. "What if I get bitten by a tick and end up with Lyme disease?" Her eyes scanned the thick woodland. "It's a definite possibility. And don't even get me started on how many wild animals Wikipedia says are in the forest up here. What if I get eaten by a bear? Or a cougar? I won't be able to call you and tell you what happened!"

Val had leaned over the seats and pried the phone form Alex's ear slightly. "I promise she won't get eaten; you have my word."

Alex's father laughed at the two. "I'm going to miss you two munchkins."

"I'm not a Munchkin!" Val called from the other side of the car. Alex's father chuckled again.

* * *

Alex finished talking to her parents as they finished their drive. The two got out of the car and began to walk to the reception. Alex was now flicking through her paperwork, partially to check everything was in order, partially to distract herself from their sullen surroundings. Val noticed this and immediately plucked the paperwork out of her hands.

"Hey!"

"Come on Lex, I'm sure you can let your boring big sis handle this stuff. Make some friends."

Alex grumbled at Val and slowed her pace as Val continued to the administration office. When she reached it a woman was clacking away at a keyboard.

"Excuse me, but I'm here to enrol myself and my sis-I mean, cousin. Valarie and Alexandra Jennings."

"Yes, please take a seat, and leave your cousin's papers with me for when she arrives."

After a few moments of waiting the receptionist called her back. "The headmaster will now see you. Down the hall, third door on the right."

Valarie followed the directions until she came to a large oaken door with a plaque that read 'Headmaster' on it.

"Guess this is it." She said to herself as she twisted the handle. "…" Valarie was at a loss as to what she saw on the other side. It was a forest, and not like the one that surrounded the International exchange academy. This one was far more beautiful, with stunning yellow-leafed birch trees. It was quite amazing. She took a tentative step through the door, feeling the ground turn from a hard, wooden floor to crunchy leaf-covered dirt. She looked around the door, keeping her hand on the doorframe, only to find a normal door, leading to the side she was now. She looked back to the side she came through to find the hallway.

"Sweet," Valarie whispered. "It's an isekai." She then squealed in excitement and did a little dance away from the door. "This is awesome!" she cried as she jumped into the air, feeling as if time had slowed around her. But, when the when the ground didn't come back as quickly as she had left it, she sensed something was wrong. She looked down to see herself just above the treetops, gravity reclaiming its hold on her. "Oh shit!" she cried as her body plummeted through the trees and thumped against the ground. "Ugh… somebody kill me." Squeezing her eyes shut as pain rippled throughout her body.

"Maybe some other time." A voice returned. She peeked open her eyes to see two boys, one with scraggly blonde hair and a smirk plastered on his face, the other with short, well-groomed hazel. The blonde offered a hand to help her up.

"Please, I insist." Valarie returned as she took the hand and then found herself upright.

"So, what is someone like you doing falling out of trees?" The blonde asked.

"More like falling from above trees." Valarie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes with a smile. The blonde cleared his throat.

"My mistake, what is thou lovely lady doing fall…" he was cut off from a swift jab to the shoulder from Valarie.

"Man, is this how you treat everyone you just met?" she laughed.

"Jordan, yes. Myself, I prefer the way which doesn't get me punched." The hazel stuck out a hand to be shaken "Bear, a pleasure to meet you."

"Valarie, but you can call me Val if you aren't dicks about it." Valarie shook Bear's hand whilst eyeing Jordan.

"So back to the subject at hand," Jordan interrupted, rubbing his shoulder, "What are you doing out here."

"Oh, just the simple magical door scenario," Valarie told them nonchalantly. The two boys exchanged looks before looking at her, eyebrows raised.

"The what?" Bear asked curiously.

"Y'know, or, maybe you don't, but it's just the thing where one goes through a magical doorway and ends up in another world. Which leads me to my next point;" Valarie put her hands together and puckered her lips. "This isn't Earth, is it?"

"No," Jordan shook his head, still a bit confused, "This is Medora."

Bear gasped, eyes widening. "Jords! She a Freyan!" he exclaimed. Jordan took a second and the smacked his forehead.

"Of course! That explains everything" Jordan said sarcastically.

"I'm just gonna assume that's the term you magic people call us non-magical people."

"Magic doesn't exist," Bear said quickly and matter-a-factly.

"Ughhhh" Valarie groaned. "But magic makes everything awesome."

Jordan chuckled. "True, but that doesn't make it real."

Valarie sighed. "Fine. Well then, take me to your leader."

* * *

"Yo! Lex!" Valarie called to Alex, who she Jordan and Bear ran into on their way to wherever Jordan and bear were leading her. Alex quickly spun around, catching her foot on a root and falling over. The approaching three suppressed their laughter in either their hands of in huffs.

"Oh, hardy har, Val. How are you here?" Alex asked, grumpy at her tripping over and the three witness of it.

"Came through a magic door." She shrugged.

"Same here. Who are they?" Alex asked.

"This is Jordan and Bear. They're taking me somewhere."

Alex cocked an eyebrow. "Somewhere?"

"Don't argue with it, Lex. It's an isekai."

"A what?" Bear and Jordan asked.

"Is this one of your anime things?" Alex folded her arms. Valarie cringed.

"Alex, never say that again, you sound very cringeworthy."

Alex sighed. "So where are we right now? Is this some weird back door to the academy or something?" Valarie gaped at Alex.

"You can not be serious right now. Alex, we're in another world! You just admitted to going through a magic door!"

"I thought I was humouring you!"

"Ugh, fine. Bear. Do your explaining thing." Bear approached Alex.

"Hello, I'm Bear, and you're now in a new world, Medora. Your world is referred to as Freya or first earth. This is the different hyper-advanced second earth." Bear explained. Alex's eyes had glossed over whilst processing the information.

"I think you broke her," Jordan whispered.

Alex then snapped out of the daze. "Yeah… not buying it."

"Eh?" the three grunted.

"Valarie, I know you like pranking me, but seriously, let's just go hand in our papers and figure out where we're sleeping. C'mon." She then began walking in no particular direction. She looked to Jordan and Bear who both shrugged.

"A big lot of help you two are." She said, following Alex.

"Hey!" Jordan called after her, following with Bear.

* * *

It took five minutes to get out of the forest and catch up to a now frozen Alex.

"But—What—How?" Alex stared incredulously at the view, speechless.

Directly in front of them lay a beautiful lake, glistening in the late afternoon sunset. The forest where they stood led straight down to the water's edge, and both the trees and the lake continued on to her right, much further than she could see. To her left, the forest cleared out into a grassy field which bordered the curve of the lake. Alex could even see a few horses grazing in the distance, adding to the picturesque image.

Further on from the fields and resting atop a small hill were a cluster of buildings, each one different from the next. Some looked like they were from the Dark Ages, while others looked as if they'd been built just yesterday. Two, in particular, stood out to Alex, if only because of their contrasting forms: one was a multi-storied U-shaped complex that was almost futuristic in design, and the other was a tower-like structure in the middle of the campus that looked like it belonged in a Medieval Weekly magazine. It was all very strange.

"Welcome to Akarnae, Valarie, Alex," Jordan said.

"What is this place?" she managed to say. "Where's the International Exchange Academy?"

"Hey, remember when you thought you were humouring me about the magic door?" Alex turned to Valarie, who had spoken and had the biggest smirk on her face. "Still think I'm pranking you?"

"B-B-but…" Alex opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish.

"I think it's time for the long story," Jordan said as led the group over to a tree where they all lay down and they spent the next few minutes describing an impossible reality. When they were finished, she looked at them apprehensively, torn between laughter and tears.

"Let me get this straight," she said. "According to you, we're from another world, a world that was once identical to your own—this 'Medora' place—but over time the two places changed and became… different places?" They nodded, so she continued, "And people from my Earth—sorry, 'Freya'—don't know about Medora or how to get here?" When they nodded again, she asked, "Then how do you explain us?"

"No idea," Jordan said, grinning widely. "But I reckon we'll have fun trying to figure that out."

"Pff. I don't care, this is like, number six, on my fantasy bucket list so I'm cool with it."

"What's number one?" Jordan asked.

"Do a Deus Ex Machina."

"What about number three?" Bear asked.

"Get superpowers." She answered. Bear and Jordan exchanged looks.

"You're going to love this then." And with that Jordan blinked out of existence. Valarie sat up quickly while Alex fell on to her back in surprise.

"SWEET! You've got invisibility!" Valarie exclaimed. She then turned to Bear. "And you said there wasn't any magic."

"It's still not, it's actually a genetic mutation." He corrected.

"Whatever, it's still awesome." Valarie looked over to Alex and Jordan, Jordan was laughing at Alex's expression."

"We call the gifts," Jordan said, wiping away tears of laughter. "My gift allows me to transcend – become invisible and move through objects."

"So, a density shift?" Valarie proposed. Bear looked at her as if she was the only thing in the world.

"You are now my best friend." Bear told her, "Jordan, your number two."

"Aw, what?!" Jordan complained. Alex cleared her thought.

"So, what can you do, Bear?" Alex asked, distracting them from their antics even if in the back of her mind she was totally flipping out.

"I'm a charmer," he said with a wink.

She felt her lips twitch. "I bet you say that to all the new girls."

He laughed at that before explaining, "I can use my speech to convince people to do things. I literally charm them into action."

"That sounds kind of dangerous," Alex said. If what he said was true, then he had a gift that could cause a lot of damage in the wrong hands.

"It might seem that way, but it's really not," Bear said. "My charms are more like suggestions, you can either act upon or dismiss them depending on how much you like or don't like the idea."

"Care to give us a demonstration?" Valarie asked

Bear shared a sneaky glance with Jordan before turning back to her and saying, "You must be hungry, Alex, Valarie. I doubt you two have eaten for hours, right?"

His voice sounded the same, but there was an almost hypnotic quality to his tone. Before she even realised what, she was doing, Alex nodded in agreement.

"You're probably so hungry that you would eat anything just to feel relief."

Alex's stomach clenched painfully. She was starving. What had she last eaten? A piece of toast for breakfast? She couldn't even remember what it had tasted like, it seemed so long ago.

"I wonder if there's anything around here that we can give you to eat?" Bear continued in that same mesmerising tone.

"Please," Alex said, her own voice sounding strained. "I'll eat anything."

"Here, this will help." Bear scooped up a handful of dirt and handed it to her. "It's just like chocolate. It'll taste delicious and you'll feel so good afterwards."

Alex reached her hand out and Bear passed the dirt over. Part of her was desperate to pour the chocolate-like goodness straight into her mouth, but another part of her was beginning to scream from deep within her subconscious mind. She paused in the act of moving her hand towards her mouth, her thoughts warring with each other.

It's dirt, Alex thought to herself. Why would I ever eat dirt? Gross!

She threw the handful of earth to the ground and then turned to glare at Bear. "What did you just do to us?"

"Sorry Lex, but just you," Valarie told her, arms crossed and hands clean.

"Whoa," Bear said between fits of laughter with Jordan, "Nobody's resisted it the first time that well!"

"Well, as soon as you explained your gift to me I thought of how to combat it," Valarie explained. "It's a process of audio waves and brainwaves, you emit special audio waves in a verbal manner, which a person's brain then processes. In a sense, it's a virus, altering the brain's reasoning function to whatever you say, but if you do something too drastic, say," She looked over to Alex who was pouting furiously, "Get somebody to eat dirt, the brain detects the 'virus' and kicks it out. All I had to do was visualize your words being an invasive body, and my brain picked up on it simply. Kind of how vaccines work, I'll know how to fight it if I know what I'm looking for."

Jordan and Bears mouths hung open. "I… I never heard it explained like that before." Bear admitted, "You'd be an absolute genius here, I mean, you just heard a basic explanation of my gift, and unravelled it further than anyone else."

"Well, she is a geeky weeaboo." Alex jabbed.

"Hey!" Valerie object, blushing at the embarrassing term.

"Well I think Marselle would love to have you at the academy regardless of your 'Geekiness'" Jordan quipped. Valarie blushed further.

"Wait a second, who's Marselle?" Alex asked.

"He's our headmaster," Bear answered. "If anyone can get you back to Freya, it's Professor Marselle. He can do anything."

"Sounds like a regular Einstein," Alex muttered, low enough for only Valarie to hear, who chuckled a bit. Louder, she said, "All right, let's go see this headmaster of yours."


	2. This is Akarnae

Alex and Valarie weren't sure where to look as Jordan and Bear led them out of the forest, around the edge of the lake and up through the grassy fields. When Alex turned to glance back over her shoulder, she had to stop walking to truly appreciate the postcard-perfect sight behind her. The lake and the forest were beautiful enough on their own, but they were overshadowed by a massive snow-capped mountain not too far off in the distance. It was a spectacular view, made even more so by the colours from the setting sun. Alex had a hard time tearing her eyes from the landscape, at least until the serenity was broken by a loud voice.

"SPARKER!"

Alex spun around at mach 5 and Valarie let out a startled 'Yip!'

The man was possibly the most intimidating person they'd ever seen, and he was walking their way. Tall and burly, he had short-cropped hair which added to his military appearance. But it was his clothes that really caught her attention since he was wearing some kind of leather armour and… was that a sword strapped to his belt?

"Sweet," Valarie whispered, eyeing the sword.

They then turned her attention towards the man's face and found that, while his clothing and bulky physique certainly emphasised his formidable presence, it was his expression that truly made her fear for her life. He looked beyond furious, with icy blue eyes glaring out from under narrowed eyebrows. Even his lips were curled in anger.

When the tremendously intimidating man was just a few steps away, Jordan smiled and said, "What's up, Karter?"

The sisters then wondered if Jordan had a death wish since his words seemed to have the same effect on the man as bitch-slapping a dragon in the snout would.

"You were supposed to report to detention with me after breakfast this morning," the man—Karter—said. "Since it evidently slipped your mind, you'll make up for your lapse in judgement next weekend—all weekend—with Finn."

Something about the last two words caused Jordan to pale more than a corpse. Karter seemed pleased with the reaction, a smirk across his face.

"That'll teach you to waste my time," he finished.

"Aw, come on, Karter," Jordan pleaded. "The only reason I had detention was because I skipped Marselle's speech. It's not like I haven't heard it all before."

"Attendance was mandatory, Sparker." Karter frowned and shook his head. "Your arrogance will be your undoing if you don't watch yourself."

Jordan seemed to wilt by. Despite all his bravado, Alex and Valarie sensed that he truly respected the man in front of them.

"Yeah, I know." Jordan looked down as he spoke. "Sorry, Karter. I won't do it again."

"Of course, you will," Karter huffed. "Just don't get caught next time. Understood?"

When Jordan glanced back up again, he appeared to be fighting a grin. "No problem, sir."

Karter nodded brusquely. "Good."

Just as Karter began to turn away, he seemed to notice Alex, Valarie, and Bear for the first time.

"Who are you two?" he demanded, looking directly at Alex and Valarie.

"Uh…" they both stood there dimly, thinking of something to say.

He turned his glare from her to Bear then back to Jordan. "You know you have to register visitors. What's the meaning of this?"

"Ease up, Karter," Bear said. "They're no ordinary visitors."

"They're new here," Jordan added. Then he lowered his voice, making his next statement sound overly dramatic. "And they're from Freya."

Karter's eyes widened a fraction before they narrowed again. "Don't be ridiculous, Sparker."

"We're right here you know." Alex interrupted, annoyed at them.

"And yeah, we very much are from 'Freya'" Valarie added, slowly.

"What are your names then, huh?" Karta asked, Alex now regretting opening her mouth.

"Alexandre Jennings," she answered before e quickly adding, "Sir."

"Valarie Jennings, nice to meet ya," Valarie said casually. Karter huffed.

"Sisters then?" he asked, unimpressed.

"No, cousins actually," Alex responded.

"Well Jennings," he pointed at both of them, "Come with me. We'll find out where you're really from and what you're doing here."

He waited for no acknowledgement before turning on his heel and marching off, back towards the buildings. Valarie grinned and trotted after Karter whilst Alex gulped and followed more reluctantly.

* * *

They all remained soundless as the four of them followed Karter across the academy grounds. They saw students walking around, playing games, talking and laughing with each other and the sisters knew that this was what a school was meant to be like. Everyone here wanted to be here and enjoyed it too.

Karter led them straight towards the large tower-like building and motioned for them to enter. As they walked through the medieval archway, they noticed a bronze plaque attached to the stone wall with the inscription, 'Akarnae Academy'. In smaller letters below were the words: 'Kailas en freydell. Vayla en karsis. Leali en nexar'.

"Strength in weakness. Victory in surrender. Life in death," Bear translated before they could ask. "It's kind of like our school motto."

"I see." Alex nodded, not seeing at all.

"To find a light in one's darkest time. A good motto to have." Valarie smiled, re-reading the plaque.

Bear chuckled. "You are the smartest person I have ever met." Bear complimented. Valarie winked and finger gunned back before they continued.

The archway led to an empty room. On one side was a winding stone staircase leading up, and on the other side, a similar staircase led downwards. Karter began climbing the upwards staircase, to which the others took it as a cue to follow.

Step after step they climbed until they finally left the staircase on the eighth floor and moved into a small waiting room.

"Wait here," Karter ordered the three, before knocking on a door before disappearing behind it.

The moment he disappeared into the room beyond, Alex deeply exhaled, "Fill me in—what's going on here? Where are we? And seriously, haven't you guys ever heard of an elevator?"

"It was only eight floors," Jordan said, and she turned incredulous eyes to him.

"There's no such thing as 'only' when it comes to eight floors, Jordan. That's practically a small mountain."

"You never were physically gifted Lex." Valarie smiled. Alex glared at her as she leant over and flicked her nose. Valarie grinned at her sister's reaction.

Jordan shook his head, amused, and answered her other questions. "This is Jarvis's office, but I'm not sure why we're here. I thought Karter would take us to see Marselle."

Before he could say more, the door opened and a middle-aged man with neatly combed hair and rectangular glasses walked out. His expression was warm and his smile genuine when he said, "Hello Alex, Valarie. We've been expecting you,"

Alex looked at him uncertainly, perplexed by his comment and his familiar use of their names. Valarie smiled. More awesome isekai bullshiterry and she loved it.

"I'm Administrator Jarvis," the man continued. "Please, follow me and we'll sort out your paperwork." He then beckoned them into his office. Valarie moved forward, but Alex remained where she was, unsettled by his words.

"I'm sorry, my paperwork?" Alex asked.

"For your admission," he clarified.

"For my… admission?"

"I was told you'd have your enrolment papers with you," Jarvis said, looking at her hand pointedly.

"Aw sweet!" Valarie celebrated, "C'mon Lex! We get to go to a super school in another world." She then fished around her pockets for her own papers, pulling them out and unfolding them when she did.

"But… we were meant to enrol at the international exchange academy…" Alex looked around, confused, "Not here…"

Jarvis smiled at her kindly. "And yet, here you are at Akarnae. Headmaster Marselle mentioned you might be arriving today, and he said one of you would likely be confused. He also had so very hoped to meet you both before he left, but unfortunately, you just missed him." Jarvis motioned for her to enter his office once again, now with Valarie present in it. "Please, come in and take a seat."

Realising she would have to enter the room to get some answers, Alex began to follow him, pausing after a few steps to look back at Jordan and Bear.

Seeing her hesitation, Jarvis said, "Your companions are more than welcome to join us if you'd like?"

Alex nodded and Jordan and Bear stepped up beside her. Together they entered the room and sat in front of a large mahogany desk with Valarie. Jarvis took a seat opposite them, while Karter glowered at them all and shut the door behind them as he left, saying not another word.

"Perhaps we should start by getting your questions out of the way," Jarvis offered, watching Alex fidget nervously. "You seem a tad… overwhelmed."

"Overwhelmed doesn't quite cover it," Alex said. "I've just been told that I'm from a different world. That's not exactly normal, you know."

Jordan chuckled quietly beside her. At least someone was amused.

"Oh, good," Jarvis said, pleased. "That saves us a lengthy explanation." Jarvis then turned to Valarie. "You seem to be taking this far better than your sister,"

"Cousin, actually, but yeah." Valarie agreed, "This is almost everything I have ever dreamed of doing, and now that's it's happening it seems surreal. Like a dream, I'll wake up from any second."

"I wish," Alex grumbled quietly. She then sighed and leant forwards. "So, can we please just go home?" Alex pleaded.

Jarvis shifted uncomfortably at her question. "Unfortunately, that's not going to be as simple as it sounds."

Alex stilled. "What do you mean? We have to get home. Right now, before someone realises that we're gone."

There was no way he could have misread the urgency in her voice. And yet, if anything, his expression turned to pity.

"I'm afraid that's impossible at the moment," Jarvis told her. "Headmaster Marselle is the only person who can help you return to your world."

Alex felt her heart rate increasing. "Well, where is he, then?"

"I don't expect to see the headmaster for a number of months," Jarvis said. "He's on a scouting tour—something he does every five years."

Months? Did he say months?

Valarie looked sympathetically towards Alex.

"But—but—" Alex stammered, not even knowing what to say. "What are we supposed to do until then?"

"You'll remain here and attend classes as one of our students," Jarvis said as if it was obvious.

Alex could feel a panic attack coming on. "I can't stay here! We have a life to get back to—a world to get back to! My parents… our new school…" Admittedly, she wouldn't be completely devastated to miss out on the International Exchange Academy experience, but the rest was a definite cause for concern. "I can't just become a student here and go to classes like it's normal. Not for months. Not even for a day!"

"I could." Valarie interrupted. Alex stared at her, pleading in her eyes. Valarie avoided her gaze before she turned back to Jarvis.

"Akarnae is a school for the gifted, right? Well, we don't have gifts. We're completely ungifted. We can't stay here—We don't belong here!" she said.

"Ah, Marselle believed you may say that. While he does not know what your gift could be, Miss Alexandra. He did, however, give me this to pass on to Miss Valarie." Jarvis then took an item from under his desk and handed it to Valarie. It was a thick rectangular package, wrapped in wax paper. "Now, was there anything else you needed Miss Alexandra?"

Valarie tuned them out to look at the package. She turned it over to see that the package was kept wrapped by a piece of sticky tape. She took it off and carefully unwrapped it carefully. Inside was a book and a note. She picked up the note, it read:

_For all your Space controlling needs. The time comes later.  
_

_-M_

She then looked at the book. It was titled ' _In Space_ ', and hade the picture of a four-pointed star on the sky-blue book. She stared at it, a million different thoughts rushing through her head all at once. Then it hit her.

He gift. These hints could only mean one thing.

"Miss Valarie?" Jarvis' voice drifted to her, pulling her back into reality.

"Yes? Sorry? What?" Valarie asked, confused.

"I asked if I could have your enrolment papers," Jarvis repeated.

"Oh! Of course!" Valarie scrambled to put the paper information on the administrator's desk. She then turned over to Alex. "So, are we staying?" she asked.

"Yes," Alex sighed, "I guess it'd be better than the international exchange academy."

"Yes!" Valarie fist-pumped at her sister's relent. Jarvis then turned in his chair and put the two papers into two separate draws, and then a second later, pulled out two complete files.

"Cool…" Valarie commented.

"How did-?" Alex began before she shook her head and decided it was better to just not question it.

Jarvis pulled a paper each out of the files and placed them in front of the sisters. "Just sign on that line and you'll be enrolled."

As much as Valarie wanted to snatch up a pen and scribble down her signature as quickly as humanly possible, she went through and read it. The whole thing. Alex did too. Once they were both satisfied with their knowledge of the rules and regulations, they signed the papers, even if they did not know what 'Potential Untested' meant.

"Wonderful. Now all that's left is to see which classes you will each be in." Jarvis said once they were done signing the papers. "The best way would be just to do it and explain everything else afterwards."

"Test us? Test us for what?" Alex asked.

Valarie's eye's widened. "Or potential…"

Jarvis smiled. "Precisely. Now, before I explain, I need to tell you a little more about the academy," Jarvis said. "We have five years of official education, with two additional years for students who are chosen to continue on as apprentices in specific subjects. Due to the demanding nature of the classes, the youngest enrolments we have are fourteen years of age, meaning that students graduate at eighteen—or twenty for the apprentices."

"That still doesn't explain what you mean by potential." Alex interrupted. Valarie shushed her.

"I'm getting there," Jarvis promised. "Our classes are split into two categories: age-based and potential-based. There are five subjects each. Core Skills, Medical Science, Species Distinction, History, and Studies of Society and Culture are all age-based classes; while Combat, Archery, PE, Chemistry, and Equestrian Skills are all potential-based."

Valarie was vibrating in her seat at the mention of the more irregular classes.

"You've had your sixteenth birthdays recently haven't you?" Jarvis asked.

"Yeah, in July. Valarie's was October last year." Alex answered, not sure if that meant anything to him.

"That works out well then," Jarvis commented. "Despite your lack of previous experience in the age-based subjects, you'll both still have to join with the third-year class. Jordan and Bear are also in that class, so I'm sure they'll help bring you up to speed."

"Go, team!" Jordan said, holding his hand up for a high-five to which Valarie instantly slapped.

Alex chuckled at this. Valarie then turned to Jarvis, "So, how do you test for the potential subjects?"

Jarvis handed her and Alex each a lollipop. Alex looked at it dubiously.

"Go on," he urged. "This is the potential test."

Valarie shrugged and stuck the lollipop into her mouth.

"Now," Jarvis started again, "the potential-based classes are divided into five different levels of difficulty—Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. The level you train at is based on your potential for that particular class. The potential-based subjects also tend to be the most physically demanding."

"Like Combat?" Alex asked around the lollipop. "Is that even legal?"

"Akarnae abides by a unique set of laws," Jarvis answered sketchily. "Our instructors are given free rein to do what they must in order to help bring out the best in our students."

Well, that didn't sound daunting at all. Nope. Not in the slightest.

"I can assure you that Combat is a favourite subject for many students," Jarvis pressed on. "Very demanding, but educational, nonetheless. Karter is the instructor for that class."

Makes sense the guy with the sword will teach combat, kind of obvious actually.

"Where did I put that thing?" Jarvis muttered, rustling through the papers on his desk.

As she watched him, Alex unconsciously crunched down on the remaining sweet, chewing until only the stick remained.

"Aha!" Jarvis exclaimed, withdrawing two small, resealable bags. He indicated to the stick poking out of their mouths. "All done?"

They both nodded and he motioned for them to drop the stick inside the bag. They did as directed and, after he sealed them both, and placed the bags on his desk, they watched as they disappeared, each replaced by a piece of paper. Alex's mouth swung open whilst Valarie's formed a grin.

"How—?"

"New world, new rules," Jordan said, laughing at the gobsmacked expression on Alex's face.

Right. They'd have to remember that from now on.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise," Jarvis mumbled to himself as he read the words on the papers.

"Ooh, this sounds interesting," Valarie commented.

"Is something wrong?"

He handed them each their paper, not another word said. Bear and Jordan leaned over their shoulders to read along.

Potential Test: Alexandra Rose Jennings

Combat ~ Epsilon

Equestrian Skills ~ Epsilon

PE ~ Delta

Archery ~ Gamma

Chemistry ~ Gamma

Potential Test: Valarie Cain Jennings

Combat ~ Epsilon

Equestrian Skills ~ Gamma

PE ~ Delta

Archery ~ Epsilon

Chemistry ~ Epsilon

If there hadn't been a floor, Jordan and Bear's jaws would have touched the base of the tower.

"What?" Alex asked.

Jordan looked like he was about to burst out laughing. "This is going to be a great year."

She frowned slightly when Bear smirked and nodded his agreement. What was up with them? She turned back to Jarvis to see his countenance still unchanged from before. "Why do you look so… apprehensive?"

"I'm just surprised by your results," he said again. "Particularly for Combat." He turned to Valarie. "Though I'm not surprised about chemistry for you."

"Why?" Alex asked. "Epsilon is the lowest grade, right?"

Valarie smiled, already having caught on. "Oh Alex, oh sweet, naive, a bit dull…"

"Okay, just shut up and tell me what I'm missing."

"Epsilon is our most advanced ranking, Alex," Jarvis corrected. "It's the highest level of training we have on offer here. Despite all our students being re-tested each year, very few manage to rate at an Epsilon level for anything. Ever. Often the students in Epsilon classes are the apprentices who have been chosen to remain behind for specialised training, or those students who have the aptitude to become apprentices after their fifth year."

Alex felt the blood drain from her face. The maniacal glint in Valarie's eyes was not reassuring.

"At present," Jarvis continued, "I believe there are only five other students in the Epsilon class for Combat, all of whom are at least a year older than you. As for Equestrian Skills, there are only six other students in your Epsilon class. One of them is your age, but the rest are older again."

Alex considered his words before finally saying, "Perhaps the lollipop was wrong?"

Jarvis shook his head. "The testing is foolproof, I'm afraid."

"You can change it though, right? You can put me in a lower level?" Seeing his regretful look, she cried, "No way—I don't know the first thing about offensive fighting!"

Valarie slung her arm around her sister, "Hey, chin up Lex. Don't forget that you get to punch them back!" she said jabbing the air.

"I understand your unease," Jarvis said soothingly, "but if the results say you're at this level, then that's what you are. The testing doesn't ascertain how capable you are at the subjects, but rather, it judges how good you'll be if you apply yourself to the training. According to your results, you each have a tremendously high level of potential for these subjects."

Alex scowled at the piece of paper. "Lucky us."

"Hey, at least you'll have Bear, Val and me in PE," Jordan said, reading her results again. "And me again in Chemistry. That's something to look forward to. We can blow stuff up together."

"Whoopee," she responded dryly.

He nudged her playfully and she smiled despite herself.

"It's getting late. I think we've all had enough for the night," Jarvis said, covering a yawn. "Unless you have any other questions?"

Valarie chuckled. "If I stopped for the amount I had, there'd be little time for school.

Jarvis let out a soft laugh and smiled. "My office is always open if you need to talk. Rest assured, everything you require for your stay will be provided for you. Your dorm room is ready and waiting, and your classes will begin first thing in the morning."

He handed her a new sheet of paper which showed her class schedule.

"Any problems, you know where to find me," Jarvis said, before turning to Jordan and Bear. "Do you mind showing Valarie and Alex to the dorm building since you're going there anyway? They're on the third floor, room seven."

"Both?" Bear asked.

Jarvis hummed. "Yes, due to their, late arrival, we were required to double up a bit and fit three to a dorm. Room seven was the largest and least occupied.

Jordan made a choking noise. "Are you serious? Room seven?"

Jarvis appeared puzzled. "Is there a problem?"

"You've put them in with D.C.? Two of them?" Bear asked, his eyes wide. "Is that… wise?"

"I'm sure they'll all get along splendidly." Jarvis covered another yawn with his hand. "Eventually."

Jordan snorted. "If you say so."

Valarie and Alex exchanged glances. What was so bad about their roommate that it sent Jordan and Bear running?

"Oh, and one more thing before you go," Jarvis said. "It's probably best if you keep where you're from and how you came to be here between us."

"Why?" Alex asked.

"Being from another world is quite the anomaly. There could be… certain complications if your story was to become well known. Only tell those whom you trust will keep your secret."

"All right," Alex said, accepting his judgement on the matter.

"Yeah, in fiction, we'd be shoved onto some operating table or something," Valarie said, not able to keep a straight face.

"Yes, well, while I do not believe something would be that… drastic still try and keep to yourselves about this." Jarvis responded, a smile tickling his lips, "I'm sure we can count on your friends to help you out as needed."

"Definitely." Jordan smiled at Alex. "We can say you're the twin queens of some forgotten civilisation who demands that we all bow down to you. Except for me - I found you first so I get to be your right-hand man."

"You'd make a better court jester," Bear said with a grin.

"Perhaps something closer to the truth," Jarvis suggested mildly, "such as being transfer students?"

Jordan's face fell with disappointment. "That's just boring."

"But so much easier to remember," Alex said.

"And it's worked wonders for so many anime," Valarie added. "And you can still be my right-hand man Jordan, Seeing as Bear's already filled his vacancy."

Bear began laughing so hard he had to clutch his stomach. Jordan playfully pouted at Valarie who was smiling like a nutcracker. "You aren't going to let me forget that one, are you?" Jordan asked.

"Eh, maybe just for a week." Valarie tapped her cheek, a sly on her face.

"It's almost curfew, so you better all get along now," Jarvis said, dismissing them. "Let me know if you have any problems settling in, but I'm confident you'll be fine."

Valarie smiled as Bear and Jordan pulled Alex from her seat and dragged her out. "Thanks, Jarvis."

"A pleasure," He returned with a smile.

Well then. Not magical magic school time.


	3. Quantum Physical Education

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was watching Super Science Friends ep.6 whilst writing this. Safe to say: I couldn't go 20 seconds without a brain aneurysm.
> 
> I need mental bleach.
> 
> Or just regular bleach, I don't want to live in this world anymore.
> 
> But anyway, here's the next chapter!

"Allow us to be your tour guides," Jordan offered once they were outside again.

The sun had long since set during their time with Jarvis, and now that her adrenaline had worn off, exhaustion was beginning to seep into their minds.

"The academy is made up of eight main buildings," Jordan said. He then pointed to the medieval-inspired building they'd just left. "This fine construction is called the Tower. Most of the professors have their offices and sleeping quarters inside, so if you're trying to sneak around after curfew or anything, stay away from this area."

"Noted," Alex responded.

"There's also the Stable Complex, which is pretty self-explanatory; the Arena, which is where Combat classes are held; the Clinic, for Species Distinction; the Sir Carsus dorm building, where first through to fifth-year students live; the Lady Omar dorm, for the apprentices; and then there's Gen-Sec—the General Sector building—which is where most of the boring classes are held."

"By 'boring', Jordan means they're intellectually challenging rather than physically demanding," Bear cut in. He pointed off into the distance, but it was too dark for Alex to see anything. "Gen-Sec is the massive U-shaped building you probably saw earlier. One length of the 'U' is for Chemistry-related labs and workrooms, and another length has normal classrooms for History, Core Skills, and SOSAC. The middle part of Gen-Sec is for the Medical Science labs and other research rooms."

"The Med Ward is also in the middle section," Jordan said. "It's like our very own hospital, and it covers the entire ground level. You'll probably be a frequent visitor there, especially with your high potential classes."

"I'm sure we'll get chummy with the ones over there." Valarie joked.

"We won't show you around the entire campus tonight because it's late and you look like you're about to drop on your feet," Jordan observed the two girls, "But as long as you know the most important building, I think you'll be all right."

Valarie turned to Bear. "Is he always like this?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Bear sighed with a smile.

"Sweet, give me more of a chance to make fun of him. Hey Jordan!" Jordan turned to Valarie, "You're a dork!"

Jordan gasped overdramatically at the quip. "I'll have you know that I am no such thing," Jordan argued. "I am the epitome of all things awesome."

"I can't believe you just used the word 'epitome' in a sentence, let alone in that context," Alex marvelled dryly as they continued.

Before Jordan could continue their ridiculous verbal bout, Bear jumped in and said, "Can you guys tell us about Freya? We already know the basics, since our technology is much more advanced than yours and we have people who spend their whole lives studying your world. But I want to hear it from your point of view. What's it like there?"

Surprised by what he'd just revealed, instead of answering, Alex asked her own question. "There are people here who study our world? Could they have a way to get us back home?"

Valarie winced at Alex's question as Bear shook his head. "They can only look into Freya through a viewing screen, they can't physically travel there. As far as I know, all they do is watch other worlds and glean information about the inhabitants, geography and technology—and whatever else they can see. There's no interaction, and definitely no visitation. Multi-world transportation is beyond the scope of even our most advanced tech, at least for now. Maybe in another decade or so—who knows?"

"well, ignoring all that pointless jabber," Valarie hopped into the conversation as Alex's hopes deflated, "What do you guys want to know about the boring lump of rock we call home?"

As the sister answered the boys' questions, they slowly led them to the Sir Carsus dorm, where they regain their tour guide-ness.

"All students except for the apprentices live in here," Bear said, heading through the doorway. "Jarvis said you're on the third floor, same as us. There are usually only two students per room; Jordan and I have been dorm buddies since first year."

That explained their brotherly friendship. Alex and Valarie wondered if they'd find that kind of close relationship with their own roommate.

The girls followed them up a charmingly winding staircase in the middle of the building. When they reached the third floor, she was led down a hallway filled with doors until they reached one labelled with the number seven. There was no handle or lock on the door, which was strange. How were they supposed to get inside the room?

"It's touch-activated," Jordan explained before either of them could ask. "It'll open when it reads your bio-signature, which Jarvis should have uploaded by now. You guys and D.C. are the only ones who can open your door from the outside. Give it a go."

Valarie was eager to get some hands-on experience with Medora, so she stepped forward and pressed her hand against the panel. Instantly, the door opened, revealing the dim room inside.

"That's pretty cool," Alex admitted.

"Do you want us to come in and introduce you?" Bear offered, albeit hesitantly.

Alex peeked through the doorway. The shadowy room was illuminated by moonlight spilling through a window opposite the door and above an empty bed. In the dim light she could just make out two other beds; one was already occupied.

"I think she's sleeping," Alex whispered. "We can introduce ourselves in the morning."

"Good idea," Jordan said. "And hey, how about we stop by on our way to breakfast? We can all go down together if you want?"

"We'll see you guys there then," Valarie answered with a smile.

"Not if we see you first," he replied before they both wished them goodnight and headed further down the hall to their own room.

"You want the first bathroom?" Alex whispered to Valarie.

"Nah, I can wait, you use it."

With that Alex sneaked off to what she believed to be the bathroom, shutting the door behind herself. Valarie waited on the bed by the window for her to finish. A few minutes later she did, and they swapped. Valarie finished up her own evening routine before slumping back down in her new bed.

Her new bed in a new world. New… world… bed… world…

"Valarie?" Alex's voice appeared.

"Yes?" she answered groggily.

"I'm…" Alex trailed off in her question.

"Scared?" Valarie finished. The silence that followed was an answer in and of itself. "It's okay Lex, a lot happened in a little amount of time and you weren't ready for it. We fear the unknown because our minds think; What if? But you need to remember you can get through the thick and thin, and I'll be here to help you."

Valarie heard Alex sniffle. "Okay… I love you Valarie."

"I love you too, Sis."

Alex chuckled. "You know that we aren't sisters."

"Yeah, but we may as well be."

* * *

Alex awoke to the door slamming.

Disoriented with the sudden awakening, she looked around the room. Huh. Guess that wasn't a dream. She looked over to the bed opposite her. Nobody there. That explains the door slamming. She then turned to Valarie bed.

"Hey, Val, are you awa- HOLY FUCK!" Alex swore when she looked over at her sister. She was there, in her bed, and the bed was floating at least a meter off the ground.

"Ugh, what's up?" Valarie asked as she stirred. As soon as she was awake, the bed plummeted to the floor, making a loud slam. Alex rushed over to the bed to check on Valarie.

"Hot damn…" Alex whipped her head around to find Valarie rubbing her head whilst sitting down, back leaning on the entrance door. "That's surely one way to wake up."

"Wha-wha-wha, but, but how?!" Alex cried.

"Yeah, figured it out yesterday. The book Marselle gave me tipped me off about my 'gift'" Valarie explained. "Honestly, he should have made it less obvious."

"What are you talk about?!"

"Space, Alex. I can manipulate space. Though it seems that it may be directly tied to my subconscious and activated in my sleep. On an upside, I can teleport."

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose. "It is too early for this shit."

"Well get ready for some more, cuz' here comes Tweedledee and Tweedledum."

There was a knock on the door. "Alex? Valarie?" they heard Jordan call, "You guys up?"

Alex strode over to the door and opened it, letting Valarie fall back through the doorway. Bear and Jordan leapt out of the way of Valarie, who just grinned at their reactions.

"Sup guys," Valarie greeted.

"Hey…" Bear greeted back, "Why exactly are you on the floor?"

"We'll talk about it over breakfast," Valarie answered, Jordan licked his lips.

"Great, my favourite type of conversation."

Alex rolled her eyes.

* * *

After getting ready for the day ahead, the girls were now wearing comfortably fitting clothing, Valarie still wearing her vest jacket and no sleeves. The four now made their way to the cafeteria.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Alex asked.

"Do what?" Bear asked.

"This whole, 'We're new here but we're really just from out of town, not from another world'? People are going to notice that we don't know how things work around here."

Valarie shrugged. "Just play it normally. Just do what you normally do, except for the parts that you don't know about, which then you just pretend that you do."

Alex frowned. "Any plane B?"

Jordan nonchalantly slung an arm around Alex. "Don't worry about it, Alex. I doubt anyone will care if you guys say or do something strange, but even if they do, you already have an excuse because you're new. Everyone will understand that you need time to settle in."

His words made her feel better.

"And besides, if it all blows up in your face…"

"Yes?" she prompted when Jordan didn't continue. "What then?"

"Well… we'll cross that bridge if we come to it."

Alex sighed. "That's reassuring."

"Sure is!"

* * *

When they entered the food court, Valarie and Alex were surprised to find tables and chairs of different sizes, colours and shapes scattered throughout the room. There was absolutely no logic to the set-up, and she felt as if she'd stepped into a grown-up version of a kindergarten play area. She shook her head and followed her friends over to a triangular table, taking a seat between them.

"I'm starving," Jordan said, again. He picked up what looked like a menu and motioned for Valarie and Alex to do the same. They glanced over the list of options, surprised by the variety. Everything from a continental breakfast to toast and cereal was available for selection.

Alex looked around the food court. People everywhere were eating but she could see no sign of where the food came from. She wondered where she had to go to place her order and turned to ask when her question died in her throat.

Jordan pressed his finger to a circle beside one of the menu options and almost immediately a plate full of scrambled eggs and bacon appeared in front of him, complete with knife and fork. He then pushed on another circle and a stack of pancakes arrived. A third press brought a glass of orange juice. Apparently satisfied, he placed the menu to the side and looked up, taking note of her wide-eyed expression.

"What?" he asked.

Bear chuckled and slapped Jordan on the back.

"You'll have to forgive Jordan. He's a bit clueless sometimes, especially on an empty stomach." Bear indicated to the menu. "It's a TCD—a TechnoConnectivity Device. Just press the circle beside what you want, and it'll be transferred here through the connection."

"So, it's an iteration of a teleporter?" Valarie asked.

Bear chuckled. "You certainly have a way of breaking things down, don't you?"

Valarie smiled at Bear, before turning back to the TCD. "So now the only question is; what kind of teleportation does it use? Does it simply relocate the objects, does it disassemble and reassemble the molecules, or does it disintegrate the original and then recreate the same item elsewhere? And if so, does it require the original to be disintegrated or can you make endless amounts of the item? Which then raises the question-"

"Okay, now you're making my head hurt." Jordan interrupted, "All I heard was that we can make endless food."

The other threes friends chuckled at Jordan's single-mindedness. "Sorry, Jord. I do tend to get carried away with my theories."

Alex scoffed. "You went crazy for three hours when you found out your Steven Universe theory was correct."

"The gem was too bright to be a rose quartz and you know it!" Valarie pointed at Alex. Alex sighed and turned back to the boys.

"So, how does it work, sans Val's crazy theories."

"No idea," Jordan said around a mouthful of food.

"Helpful," she mumbled, taking another bite.

"Bear can explain," Jordan said after swallowing. "He's a complete whiz at Chemistry. Epsilon level—unnaturally smart."

"Why do you always manage to make what should be a compliment sound like an insult?" Bear grumbled.

Jordan shrugged and started on his massive stack of pancakes. "It's a gift."

Alex cleared her throat and looked at Bear, waiting for an explanation.

"Firstly, you have to remember that everything is different here," Bear spoke quietly, careful not to gain the attention of those seated near them. "Our technology is really advanced. Most of the cool things we can do are because of the different kinds of TechnoConnectivity Devices we have. Some TCDs are readily available to the public, like ComTCDs, which we use for instant holographic communications."

He paused to pull a small black object out of his pocket and placed it into the palm of his hand before touching the screen and saying Jordan's name. A chiming noise sounded, and Jordan pulled out a similar Device, his coloured silver. Alex wasn't sure what he did next, but she gasped when a miniature real-time hologram of Bear rose up out of the screen Jordan held, as did a live version of Jordan appear above Bear's Device.

"Sweet," Valarie said, watching the holographs mimic Jordan and Bear's movements perfectly.

"Pretty neat, huh? ComTCDs also make it easy for us to check in with our families—and anyone else—while we're here at Akarnae," said both the actual Bear and the miniature version of him. He ended the connection and both boys pocketed their Devices again. "Other TCDs can do all kinds of things—I could spend hours talking about some of them—but to keep it simple, this one here—" he pointed to the menu on the table "—is linked to an offsite food station where people are employed to prepare meals for residents of Akarnae. When we make our selection, they place the food into an out-tray of sorts, and the networked connection transfers it through to our end."

After seeing the holograph Devices, Alex had kind of expected something more… detailed. "That's your explanation?"

"Pretty much," Bear answered. "Add to that some intellectual Techno-babble about particle transference and regeneration, and you've got the answer you're after."

Valarie turned to see Valarie's glazed-over expression. She tapped her shoulder to make sure she was all right, knocking her out of her trance.

"Sorry but I think I'm going to have an aneurysm of sheer pleasure by the time I'm done here." The other laughed at the joke before returning to their breakfasts, Alex's and Valarie's previously ordered during the conversation. Alex had Pancakes whilst Valarie had scrambled eggs on toast with hash browns.

"So, mind telling us about earlier?" Jordan asked, mouth just emptied of food. "We heard noises when we were walking down the hallway."

"Valarie's' bed was levitating a metre off the ground. And then she appeared at the door when she was just in her bed a second ago." Alex deadpanned. The two wide-eyed boys turned to Valarie, who was sipping lemon cordial.

"It's true. Pretty sure I've figured out my gift." She told the, only making their eyes widen further. She smiled, "Watch." With that, she looked down at the half of a pancake that was left on Jordan's plate. It raised steadily into the air and towards Jordan, who promptly ate it.

"That's awesome!" Jordan exclaimed, mouth full of pancake. "Telekinesis is not too common!"

"Well, it's a bit more than that…" Valarie said, appearing behind Jordan. Jordan chocked on his food in surprise, thumping his fist on his chest to get it out. "It's actually space manipulation. So, kind of telekinesis but also other stuff."

"It's freaky how quickly you pick up on this stuff Val," Bear told her, "Most normal people take years to hone their gifts to that degree."

Valarie giggled. "Well I can only do minor telekinesis and teleport to where I can see or my surrounding area at the moment, but I'm sure I'll get better."

Alex leaned over to Jordan and Bear, "She creates contingency plans for these things."

"Hey!" Valarie objected, blushing.

"Don't worry," Jordan reassured, "It's cute."

"It worked didn't it…?" she grumbled.

A loud gonging rebounded throughout the food court, and the other students began to get up from their seats.

"Time to see what you're made of, Jennings," Jordan said, pulling Alex from her seat and dragging her towards the doors, Valarie following. "If you can survive the next two hours, you can make it through anything."

Alex looked sideways at him as she followed them both outside, falling in step with Valarie. "Care to explain?"

"You've heard of PE, right?" Bear answered for him. "Physical Education?" At their nods, he continued, "Well, here we call it Physical Exhaustion, mostly because of the instructor, Finn. You'll understand why soon enough."

When the four of them stopped at the outskirts of the large grassy field they had trekked across the day before, Valarie noticed a group of students already waiting around. Most of them were in stretching positions. She counted thirteen people; seventeen including their quartet. By the looks of the others, Alex guessed they were around her or Valarie's age or older. Two of them might have been slightly younger.

A few of the students glanced up in curiosity as they approached, but before any introductions could be made, a loud voice trumpeted nearby.

"Up! Up! Up! No dawdling! You're on my time now!"

They looked around until she found the man who was shouting. He was of medium height with stringy, dark blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. His thin body was wiry, with skin straining over his taut muscles. If there was such a thing as 'too fit', then he was it.

They looked into his eyes as he approached and she couldn't help but notice that he looked a little… wild.

"You know the drill; get started on your warm-up laps. Go!" he yelled, sending the students scattering. Bear and Jordan took off with the others, Valarie following suite but Alex hesitated, unsure of what she was supposed to do.

Valarie levelled with Jordan and began keeping pace. "So how many are laps are in a 'warm-up'?" she asked.

"Only ten," Jordan answered, "But it's fifty if you're last."

"Oh." Alex looked back to see about three people behind them, excluding Alex. "Well then, see ya!" Valarie called as she increased her speed and leading Jordan in the dust.

"Don't leave me!" Jordan called out dramatically.

* * *

Two hours later, Valarie stood over Alex, who was lying on the field, moaning. She honestly felt very sorry for her, and at least a little bit angry. She was right when they thought that Finn had a wild glint in his eyes. He was downright psychotic.

He spent the better part of two hours chasing Alex with an electrically charged baton. And the rest berating her almost corpse on how her sister could have done so much better, being in the lead for most of the activities.

"You survived, at least. That's more than some can say."

Alex didn't have the strength to open her eyes and acknowledge Jordan's comment. She could hear the amusement in his voice—she didn't need to see it as well.

"You should stretch, you know," he told her. "If you don't, you'll regret it later."

She pried her eyes open. Even that hurt. "I doubt it'll make much difference now." She knew that he was right though, so she forced herself into a sitting position, grimacing as her muscles pulled. "Ow." She looked to Valarie. "How did you survive?"

Valarie smiled. "First of all, I actually exercised back in Freya. Secondly, I used telekinesis on my adrenaline glands to produce more. It was tricky, and I'll need extra sugar at lunch, but it was worth it.

"You're so lucky," Alex huffed.

"You're lucky too," he said, not even trying to hide his grin. "Finn was easy on us today."

She paused mid-stretch. "You're kidding, right?"

"You should see him on a bad day," Jordan said, and he offered Alex his hand. She couldn't hold back a groan of pain as he pulled her to her feet.

His mouth quivered but he managed to suppress his laughter, sending her a look of sympathy instead. "You've still got a full day ahead of you yet. Including Combat."

She grimaced. "Don't remind me."

"You have Archery next, right?" he asked, turning away and motioning for her to follow.

She pulled her timetable out and scanned it as they walked. "Good memory." Alex complimented, having told him earlier.

He nodded. "Bear had to take off for Chem, you'll have to head over there now, Val."

"Oh! Thanks, Jordan!" She thanked before she blipped out of existence in blue light, and back in again, now closer to the Gen-Sec compound.

* * *

"That was amazing!" Valarie told bear as they walked to the cafeteria after Chemistry. "That was everything I ever wanted in science and more! He described everything in a mathematical compound and mad so simple to understand, I bet Jordan could understand it!"

Bear laughed. "I knew you'd like it. I bet it's your favourite subject now?"

"So far…" Valarie answered, "But I do like punching things quite a bit…"

"Combat maybe then?"

"Eh, probably."

The two entered the food court and sat down, ordering some food while they waited for Alex and Jordan. Bear got fish and chips, with a glass of water, whilst Valarie got a chicken burger.

"Hey bear, are there any drinks with a high sugar content?" Valarie asked.

"Yeah, a few. Why do you ask? Are you diabetic?" He replied, concerned.

"Nah, just used telekinesis to release extra adrenaline, and now I need some glucose to replace it."

"Huh, smart. I wondered why you were doing that well a PE. If you need a boost, I'd recommend Dillyberry juice." Bear tapped the TCD and a glass of bubbly purple liquid appeared.

"Looks funky. Like a potion." Valarie commented. Bear chuckled.

"Yeah, just remember, this is a highly concentrated energy drink, so one will probably enough. However, if you are still feeling a bit low, you could risk a second."

"Got it." She replied, having some of the drink.

Alex then entered. Bear waved and called her over, chatting for a bit before Jordan joined them as well. He slumped down into the chair and then began tapping away at the TCD for some, or a lot, of food.

"I'm starving," he said as a double-decker burger appeared with a side of chips.

"You're always starving," Alex observed. "I've known you less than a day, but the common theme is that you're hungry—all the time. Maybe you have worms?"

Bear had just taken a sip of water and, hearing her words, he spat his mouthful out, choking on a laugh.

"Hey! Not on me!" Valarie cried as she laughed too.

Jordan grumbled about being a 'growing boy', as he ordered a glass of Dillyberry juice.

"What's that?" Alex asked, eying the drink. "Dillyberry juice," he answered, sliding the glass towards her. "Have a taste."

Alex sniffed it and took a tentative sip, her eyes lighting up with delight. She gave it back and hurriedly ordered one alongside her spaghetti.

"Be careful not to overdo it," Jordan warned when she drank half of her juice in one go.

"What do you mean?"

"It's an energy drink," he explained. "Very concentrated."

Alex wasn't too concerned. How bad could it be? The taste was well worth the consequences. She'd probably just have to make a few extra trips to the bathroom, no big deal. It might even be a blessing in disguise if it got her out of some of her dreaded Combat class later that afternoon. Bathroom breaks were a basic human right, after all.

She drained the rest of the glass and then immediately ordered another glass of dillyberry juice. her used glass disappearing with the arrival of the new.

"Hey," Jordan said, speaking through a mouthful of food. "I forgot to ask you earlier. How was D.C. this morning?"

"Never saw her," Valarie said, finishing her burger.

Alex shook her head. "I woke up to a slamming door, no roommate in sight."

"That explains it, then," Jordan said, seeming satisfied. He sipped his juice before taking another bite of food.

"Explains what?"

"Why you haven't asked Jarvis for a new room yet," Bear answered with a knowing grin.

Valarie looked between the two of them. "Is she that much of a bitch?"

Both boys winced a little at Valarie's language before simply smirked at them and continued eating.

Alex picked up her purple juice, sipping thoughtfully. It didn't take her long to finish the second glass, but she was still surprisingly thirsty, so she ordered another. All that running in PE must have dehydrated her.

A few minutes—and another emptied glass—later, Jordan stopped her from ordering more of the delicious juice. Only then did she realise just how odd she felt. Kind of light-headed and, well… buzzy. The whole room was jumping up and down. Was there an earthquake? Just as she was about to ask what was going on, Jordan pressed his hand down on her shoulder. All motion ceased and she realised that she must have been physically bouncing in her seat.

Bear pointed to her empty glass. "How many of those have you had?"

"I dunno," she said giddily, her voice slurring the words. "But they taste really good!"

The three looked at each other with uneasy expressions. She tried to remember how many glasses had arrived and disappeared throughout the lunch break and she felt tremendously pleased with herself when she was able to recall the number.

"THREE!" she yelled triumphantly. "I HAD THREE!"

Jordan and Bear jumped at her exclamation and heads turned in their direction from all corners of the court.

Valarie grimaced. "Glad I only had the one then."

"Oops. Sorry," Alex apologised, whispering this time. Then she giggled.

Wait, giggled?

She did it again.

Valarie Frowned. "That can't be good."

Alex looked at Jordan, horrified. "What's wrong with me?"

"Come on," he ordered, rising from his seat. "We'd better get you over to the Medical Ward."

Alex tried to stand but found her legs were made of jelly. She crashed noisily down to the floor, gathering even more attention than before.

"My legs are angry at me. Too many runnings." She giggled again as her vision flickered in and out of focus. "That's not right. Too much running. Better."

Valarie sighed. "I got her." Alex then began floating a bit off the ground, and lead out by Valarie, who was following Bear and Jordan.

"Whoa! Goodbye ground!" Alex blabbered happily, "I can fly now!"

Valarie shook her head as the three made their way across the campus towards the Med Ward. "Alex is not going to like this when she comes to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to introduce at least some of Valarie's powers early on so that they can get into shenanigans with them later.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and here's a helpful tip: Grammarly is a lifesaver.


	4. Hospitals and Punching Stuff

After dropping the woozy Alex off at the Med Ward with the doctor, Fletcher Montgomery, the next Time Valarie saw her sister was in Medical science fifty minutes later. Valarie was already sitting with Bear and Jordan, seeing as they had all come into class together, deciding not to go back to the cafeteria due to how little time they had left of lunch.

They were learning something about some nasty bug called a Faenda, when Alex arrived.

"Are you going to stand there all day, Miss Jennings?"

Startled, Alex quickly entered the classroom. She was surprised to discover that—for some inexplicable reason—the door was completely transparent from the inside, like a one-way window.

"Are you done with interrupting my class?"

Alex turned away from the see-through door and searched for the owner of the sharp voice. It took her a moment to move her gaze past the curious glances from her classmates—and the amused looks from Jordan and Bear—but when she found the short woman close to the front of the room, Alex had to clamp down on a burst of laughter. It looked like a washing machine had thrown up a rainbow and plastered it all over the woman's lab coat.

Alex blinked a few times in the hope that it would help fade the sight—which it didn't—and then she hesitantly stepped forward. "I'm—"

"I'm well aware of who you are, Miss Jennings," the woman interrupted, levelling her strict gaze on Alex. "I'm Professor Luranda, head of Medical Science, and tardiness is not acceptable in my class."

"I didn't—"

"Fortunately for you, your friends explained your absence," the professor interrupted again. "Since it's your first day, I'll be lenient. In the future, arrive on time or face the consequences."

That was hardly fair. It wasn't as if Alex had deliberately planned to end up in the Medical Ward. But she would have to let her indignation go since the professor appeared to be waiting for a response. "Uh, sure thing, ma'am."

"Professor."

Alex jerked. "Pardon me?"

"The correct response is, 'Sure thing, Professor'. Lack of respect is something else I will not tolerate in my class, Miss Jennings."

Alex nodded, not wanting to further aggravate the short, crazy-coated woman.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Professor Luranda said. "Go and find a seat so I can continue my lesson."

Valarie watched as Alex took a seat down next to a red-haired girl who had been previously glaring at Valarie but had now switched to glaring at Alex.

Valarie had an idea about who the mystery girl was but still wasn't entirely sure.

"Now, class," the professor said, continuing on with the lecture, "while the toxicity of Faenda venom can cause damage to internal organs over extended periods of time, in a life or death situation its paralytic effects can provide an adequate—if unorthodox—stabilisation treatment."

Professor Luranda proceeded to walk around the room, placing a container on every table. Each jar held a black flying insect with glowing green wings and a painful-looking stinger.

"In your pairs, I want one of you to reach into the jar and provoke the creature to sting you," the professor instructed. "The paralysis will only last for a few minutes and in that time the non-paralysed student will ensure their partner does not fall and hurt themselves while under the effects of the venom. You will then switch roles. Begin as soon as you are ready."

Valarie turned to her own partner, an oddly green-haired boy with freckles.

"Hi, I'm Valarie, I'm new here." Valarie greeted.

"Collin Charles," He replied as they shook hands.

"Did you want to go first?" Valarie asked. Collin just looked at her with an expressionless face. "Didn't think so." He chuckled at that.

Valarie stuck her hand into the jar, the insect taking this as an act of aggression instantly. It promptly stung her, her hand instantly tingling. She began to feel numb all over her body before beginning to slip out of her chair.

"I got ya," Colin said as he made to grab her. But before he could Valarie sat back up, in her chair. Colin looked at her, "Are you okay now?"

It looked as if Valarie shook her head before looking at a pen and paper on the desk in front of Colin. Colin watched as the pen moved to write on the page.

' _Using gift to keep upright. Talking too complicated to do'_ Was all it read. Colin nodded his head.

"Just tell me when you're okay," Colin instructed her. Valarie made herself nod. After Valarie recovered, she and Colin swapped, Valarie catching Colin with her telekinesis.

After that, Professor Luranda lectured the class for a bit longer before the bell finally rang. As they all filed out of the classroom, Valarie caught up with Alex, Bear and Jordan.

"How're you feeling?" Bear asked Alex.

Alex grimaced. "Do you mean after the dillyberry disaster, or because of the two paralysis-induced face-plants into my desk care of my oh-so-loving roommate?"

Valarie scowled. "You do know I will punch her for you, Alex?"

"Please don't."

"Well then," Jordan interrupted, attempting to draw the conversation away from the potentiality of Valarie beating somebody to a pulp, "You guys ready for Combat?"

This worked as Valarie's angry scowl turned into a malicious grin. "Oh yeah," Valarie replied ominously, punching her open palm. Jordan and Bear looked to one another, a pang of worry for the other combat students. Alex sighed at her sister's bloodthirst.

"Nope," Alex answered. "But I don't think we really have a choice, so lead the way."

* * *

A few minutes later, Alex and Valarie found themselves staring in awe at the intimidating structure in front of them. The aptly named _'Arena'_ was a mammoth colosseum-like construction that looked as if it was straight out of the gladiator era.

' _Seriously, what is with this school?'_ Alex thought

Jordan, Bear and Valarie had to physically pull Alex forward as they rounded the hill leading to the magnificent site. Alex couldn't deny that the view was spectacular, but she wasn't able to appreciate it fully since she was too distracted by her fear of what went on inside those sandstone walls.

"You'll be okay," Bear said, seeing the queasy look on her face. "Karter might be a piece of work, but he knows what he's doing. He won't let you die, not on your first day."

"Plus anyway, you have me there," Valarie added.

"That really boosts my confidence, Val." Alex rolled her eyes.

"See! Even in the face of potential pummelling, you sass is unwavering!" Jordan cheered, eliciting a laugh from the group.

"Thanks, guys," Alex said, to keep them from saying anything else 'encouraging'. "We'll—uh—hopefully see you later."

"We'll definitely see you later, I wouldn't miss recounting my first ever battle to my close friends." Valarie grinned.

Jordan clapped Alex on the shoulder and Bear gave them the thumbs-up, then the two boys both took off for their Delta Archery class.

Alex was soon dragged forward by Valarie and she soon discovered that the inside of the Arena was almost as magnificent as the outside. There was no roof, instead, the thick walls stretched straight up to the sky. Dotted around the sandstone perimeter were archways that led into large, sheltered rooms. For some reason, Alex doubted they were used for wet-weather classes.

"You lost, Jennings?" came the voice of Karter from further into the Arena. Once again he was dressed in his weird leather ensemble, the sword still belted to his waist.

The sisters counted five other students stretching on the ground near him, all of them male. Alex held her head high as she went, while Valarie just walked casually over to the small group. Alex was desperately trying to ignore the feeling of her feet sinking into the dark, sand-like powder that covered the entire floor of the Arena.

"Nope," Valarie smirked as she folded her arms victoriously, "We're in this class. Both of us."

Karter looked at her incredulously before he threw his head back and burst out laughing. A few of the others in the class also snickered at her words. Valarie, smirk still plastered on her face, took out her timetable, motioning for Alex to do the same. She did so, only for Valarie to snatch it away and wave it in Karter's face.

"This is a joke, right? There's no way you"—he looked directly at Alex, causing Valarie to frown— "Could be in this class." He then turned to Valarie. "You, I have a better time at believing."

"Well don't just make us stand around," Valarie's cocky smirk returned to her face, "Show us what this class is made of."

Alex's heart stopped beating at her sister's words. Well, it wasn't like she was going to need it after what happens next.

"All right, then," Karter said, eyeing them thoughtfully. There was a dangerous glint in his icy gaze. "Let's see how this plays out."

* * *

Welp. Alex hadn't lasted thirty seconds. Valarie winced as Alex's head slammed against the ground knocking her out cold. Karter simply huffed and ordered Alex's partner to take her to the med bay. Then it was Valarie's turn.

"Well, Jennings." Karter began, sounding oddly pleased with himself. "You're sister didn't too seem to last very long,"

'Understatement of the century' Valarie thought, feeling bad for Alex.

"But you seem far more confident in your abilities. So you'll face Kaiden James." Karter called forth a large boy, at least a head taller than her and surprisingly good-looking.

"One question sir, what are the restrictions?" Valarie asked. Kaiden looked at her, surprised, and then looked to Karter. Karter just huffed as his smirk grew wider.

"None."

"Great then," Valarie said, as she quickly teleported behind Kaiden, and went for a punch to the head. Kaiden, not anticipating the fight to start, or for Valarie to do that, had little time to react, not dodging out of the way completely and getting clipped on the chin.

Kaiden rolled with the punch, being able to move out of the way of the second punch and retaliating with his own. Which failed miserably, as Valarie teleported shortly out of his range and got into a boxer stance. Arms up high, bouncing on the tips of her toes. Kaiden, still a bit shook from the first hit, got into his own fighting stance.

Valarie quickly snuck a glance at Karter, who surprisingly looked, well, surprised.

Valarie focused back on her opponent, who slowly approaching her. Valarie smiled again, as she performed a teleport. Kaiden, expecting this, spun around to greet her with a fist, but instead found air. He then quickly realised his connection to the ground was severed as Valarie had feigned an actual teleport with a quick blink forward that allowed her to sweep his legs. Before Kaiden could touch the ground however, he stopped as he began floating just above the dark sand.

"Need a hand there?" Valarie smiled as she offered a hand to the boy. Kaiden let out a tensed breath and smiled back, tacking the offered hand as Valarie set him back down on his feet. The pair was then distracted by the sound of slow clapping.

"Well done Jennings," Karter congratulated, "I must say that was some, creative, fighting. You used every advantage you had at your disposable to win. But I will have to ask you to refrain from doing such a move again. Wouldn't want to develop a crutch now would we?"

"No sir," Valarie replied.

"Hm. All right!" Karter then called to the whole class, "I'll be coming around and giving you pointers on how to improve your stances."

* * *

After Combat had finished, Valarie made her way back to the Med Ward to see Alex. On the way there, she crossed paths with Bear and Jordan, who were coming to meet up with her and Alex. Valarie told them both what had happened, which Jordan got a good laugh out of. Valarie then put him in a light chokehold until he called uncle.

Finally, the trio made their way to the Med Ward.

"She Lives!" Jordan cried once he spotted Alex."

"Way to go, Alex! Your first day here and you've already been to the Med Ward twice!" Bear called out. "That's got to be some kind of record. Right, Fletch?"

"One day the two of you will learn to appreciate the sanctity of this Ward and not disrupt my patients," Fletcher spoke sternly to the boys, but Valarie could spy a smile behind Fletcher's icy expression.

"One day," Jordan mused, "we just might." He grinned at Alex. "But not today."

Fletcher mock-sighed and motioned for them all to enter the room.

"Don't worry Fletch," Valarie said to the Doctor, "I could shut them up for you, but I doubt the way I have planned will have them leaving."

"Thank you, Valarie." Fletcher then turned back to Alex. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," Fletcher threw a warning glance at the two boys who perched themselves haphazardly on the end of Alex's bed, "I suppose it will be all right if you leave, so long as you wait a few hours before sleeping."

Alex nodded and was pleased when she felt no stabbing pain this time.

"Jordan, Bear, you're responsible for making sure she remains awake. Think of it as punishment for disturbing my peace and quiet."

Bear snorted. "This place is like a morgue, Fletch. The disruption can only be good for you."

"Well, you don't hear anyone there complaining." Valarie smiled. The was a brief silence before they all started laughing. Even Fletcher covered his mouth to suppress a chuckle.

"Then on that note, it's time for you three to leave," Fletcher said, shooing them off the bed and towards the door. "Try to wait a few days before visiting me again, Alex."

"I'll see what I can do," Alex promised with a wave as she followed the rest of the group outside.

* * *

After they left the Med Ward and had a quick dinner, Jordan and Bear decided to give the sisters a more complete tour of the academy to show her where all her other classes were held. It didn't take them long, and the three of them soon headed back to the dorm building.

"There's one more place we need to show you," Jordan said as he and Bear guided her down the staircase and into the basement.

"Welcome to the Rec Room," Bear announced, leading her through a doorway and into the room beyond.

Alex glanced around with wide eyes. "What is this place?"

"It's our Recreational Room," Jordan answered. "It's where we come if we want to just chill out for a while, or if we don't want to study in our rooms. As you can see, it's pretty well equipped."

Valarie and Alex could see that. The Rec Room had everything from a roaring fireplace surrounded by comfortable couches, to study tables with chairs that looked to be _made_ out of pillows. There was even a mini dining area up the back of the room.

Bear saw where she was looking. "You can order food just like in the food court, but the menus are limited to snack food."

Around the room, other students were littered about, chatting easily with one another. Some looked like they were working on their homework together, some were snacking on a late-night supper, and some were even roasting skewered marshmallows in the fire.

"Come on," Jordan said, leading the way over to a doorway in the far wall.

The room she followed him into was an entertainment area. Lounges, cushions, beanbags and every other comfortable object imaginable filled the space. There was also a huge screen covering every inch of the far wall, creating their very own mini cinema.

Jordan walked over to a touch-screen panel and scrolled through what looked like a menu before pressing an option on the list with a satisfied smile. Almost immediately the screen came to life.

"Here," he said, handing them both a silver ring.

Alex looked at him quizzically whilst Valarie took the ring more acceptingly. The moment the put the rings on their respective fingers, their world turned upside-down and then, amazingly, all four of them were inside the movie that was playing on the screen.

"No way!" she cried, glancing around in awe.

"Virtual reality at its finest," Jordan said as he stepped up next to her. Valarie turned to Bear.

"You **need** to tell me how this works." She demanded, a giddy smile on her face.

"Sure, but let's enjoy this first." Bear replied. The four stood amongst the ruins of an abandoned castle. It was half-overgrown by the encroaching forest, with the stone foundation crumbling in places all around them.

"This is amazing!" Alex exclaimed, trying to take in everything at once. "What can we do in here?"

As she spoke, a scream sounded from somewhere to her left and a woman dressed in a bloodied wedding gown ran in from the woods, seeking refuge in the ruins.

A wolf the size of a small horse hurtled out of the trees, chasing after the bride as she disappeared further into the crumbling castle. The creature jerked to a halt only a few steps away from Alex, and it was so real, so lifelike and so close that she actually gasped and flinched away from it.

"Jordan, buddy, what setting do you have it on?" Bear asked, his voice much quieter than normal.

"I didn't check," Jordan said. "Why?"

For some reason, the wolf seemed to have lost interest in chasing the woman. Instead, it remained where it was, staring intently at the friends while growling low in its throat.

"Didn't you hear about the upgrades?" Bear whispered, backing up a step and pulling Alex Valarie and Jordan with him.

"Is something wrong?" Alex asked, watching a glob of bloodied saliva drip from the wolf's snarling mouth.

Talk about high definition. The quality of the scene was incredible.

"We need to get out of here," Bear said urgently.

The wolf snarled in their direction and dropped back on its haunches as if preparing to launch through the air. If Alex hadn't known any better, she would have thought it was about to try and attack them. But they weren't really there; it was called virtual reality for a reason.

"Take your rings off!" Bear yelled. "Now!"

Hearing the panic in his voice, Alex didn't hesitate to follow his order. Just as the landscape faded and the world turned upside-down again, she saw the wolf spring directly towards the three of them, bloodied saliva flying from its open mouth.

They suddenly appeared back in the Rec Room, safe from the clutches of the giant wolf.

"What was that?!" Alex cried, still shaking.

Jordan clearly had no idea and he looked at Bear in question.

"You really shouldn't have skipped Marselle's meeting the other day," Bear said wearily to Jordan as if that explained everything.

Jordan's face cleared with understanding, but Alex was still completely in the dark.

"Excuse me but can someone explain why I have wolf slobber on my arm?" she demanded, somewhat hysterically, as she wiped the offensive goo off using the hem of her shirt. "Were we nearly just eaten?"

"We're okay, Alex," Bear said soothingly. "It was a close call, but we're okay."

"Close call?" she repeated, incredulous. "I almost became a doggy treat!"

"You wouldn't have been hurt," Bear said. "There's a security measure that pulls you out of the virtual world if you so much as get a paper cut while you're in the system."

She calmed slightly. "So, we wouldn't have been eaten?"

"No, definitely not."

"I don't understand," Jordan said, frowning at the wolf still pacing across the screen. "It used to be just plain virtual reality. We couldn't interact with it or anything."

"Upgrades," Bear said simply. "Marselle told us that they're still working out the glitches." He paused for a moment and then added, "Apparently censoring appropriate viewing material is still on the to-do list."

"You think?" Alex muttered.

"I'm sorry," Jordan said sheepishly. "I had no idea about the upgrades."

He sounded truly remorseful, so Alex decided to let him off the hook. Alex then stood straight and look around.

"Wait, where's Valarie?" She asked, not seeing her sister. The three friends then turned slowly turned to the screen. On it, was the giant wolf chasing Valarie, who was laughing as she weaved through the ruins.

"Your sister is insane," Jordan told Alex.

Alex sighed. "That about sums her up."

* * *

The rest of the Jennings sisters' week continued in much the same way as their first day. Every morning they woke up to the sound of their door slamming as D.C. left the room, and every evening Alex collapsed into bed, exhausted, whilst Valarie flopped onto hers, feeling sluggish.

Much to Alex's relief, Combat didn't cause her any more problems because when the pair walked into their second class, Karter immediately benched Alex, ordering her to sit down and not touch anything. But when she watched her sister and other classmates proceed to attack each other with wooden staves and, later, actual swords, she couldn't help but be relieved by her enforced time-out.

On Valarie's side, she was having a great time. She wondered why every school didn't have combat classes. Maybe because of the potential injuries. Eh, whatever. At the moment, Valarie was mentally debating whether or not she could make a sword using her space manipulation. Or steal one from Karter. But he would probably check for that, so maybe not…

As for Alex and Valarie's other classes, Alex actually had to participate in them. To say they were 'strange' didn't even begin to come close to the truth.

Chemistry was taught by a complete wack-job professor, Fitzwilliam Grey, who only answered to 'Fitzy'. He fit the stereotypical description of 'crazy scientist' so well that Alex wondered if he had inspired the cliché. Almost laughably, he greatly enjoyed blowing things up—the more explosive, the better. The subject itself was also nothing at all like what she expected. Apparently 'Chemistry' was an ambiguous term in Medora, where they dealt with the formulaic creation of what Alex still considered to be magic, despite her friends' arguments to the contrary. Nothing they did in their class should have been possible, and yet, to Alex's unending confusion, it was.

When Valarie was in her Epsilon Chemistry, she was completely enamoured by the subject. She always did have a history of attempting to break things down and saw how they worked, both literally and metaphorically. So when she was being taught working chemical formulas for things considered either science fiction or just downright magic by some ( _'probably Alex'_ She thought), it was Bear who had to endure her fangirling afterwards.

The Core Skills teacher, Professor Astrid Marmaduke, was the polar opposite of Fitzy. She was also extremely frustrated by Alex's inability to exhibit any kind of gifting. Since Core Skills focused on controlling one's gift, Alex found herself in a predicament. But her anxiety turned to awe when Marmaduke demonstrated her own gift—a combination of low-level mind arts, including moving objects telekinetically, kind like Valarie did and reading surface thoughts from another person's mind. It was kind of freaky, but also pretty awesome. Alex wondered again what her own gift might be—if she did actually have one. Until it presented itself, Core Skills was going to be a waste of her time.

With Valarie, however, Marmaduke was blown away. She was astounded by both the sheer potential of Valarie's gift, and the great amount of control she had mastered in the short amount of time she had discovered it.

Most of the remaining classes Valarie and Alex had similar ideas on. The enigmatic History teacher, Doc, was quite a peculiarly intelligent man, randomly breaking out into different languages. Valarie made a note to try and learn them.

For their separate Equestrian Skills classes with Tayla, they both had to agree with Jordan about her being cool. But despite her friendliness, Tayla still told Alex that she would have to prove herself before joining the Epsilon class proper. Valarie had no such confrontation as she was delegated to a lower class.

Their Species distinction professor had apparently contracted some sort of disease from one of his creatures. This left all the students with a free period, something Alex was eternally grateful for, meaning she could actually finish her homework, and something Valarie laughed at for needing.

Their last class was Studies of Society and Culture—or SOSAC—which was taught by Casper Lennox, who, as Jordan hand informed them, was a shadow-walker. Whilst Valarie took this literally, a species which could umbrageously teleport, Alex thought it was some sort of code for 'Vampire'. That had set her on edge until she saw Casper Lennox walk through sunlight, which she breathed a sigh of relief for, and which Valarie laughed at her again.

Valarie, Jordan and Bear were Alex's anchors; if not for them, she would have left the academy with Valarie in tow, and searched for the headmaster on her own, despite having no idea where he was. But the four of them had become rock-solid friends and Alex was willing to keep on waiting for Marselle's return as long as they continued to cheer her up at the end of each increasingly difficult day. She'd met a few of her other classmates, but everyone was so focused that they barely paid her any attention. Jordan and Bear, though… well, they made the effort, and Valarie always made sure to look out for her. And she was beyond grateful.

Another thing she was grateful for was the meeting she and Valarie had with Jarvis mid-way through the week. The administrator had called them to his office and explained more about Medora, saying that the world itself was similar to her Earth—Freya—in that it had started out as one massive supercontinent, but instead of the land breaking apart into smaller continents, natural disasters had ripped Medora's coastlines to shreds and submerged whole chunks of land under the ocean. In the end, what was left was one single land mass which was given the same name as the world—Medora. It was separated in the middle by the Durungan Ranges, a collection of mountains that spread from the eastern shore right across to the western sea cliffs. For the sake of simplicity, anything located north of the mountains was called the Northland, and anything located to the south was the Southland.

He also said that Akarnae was located in the south of the Northland, right in the heart of Medora. And, even better, the seasons were exactly like what it was back on Freya—with the Northland being like the Northern Hemisphere of Earth, and the Southland being like the Southern Hemisphere. Even the dates matched up, including the school year, which was from August to June, when the academy broke up for summer holidays.

Alex found it weird, but Valarie was just muttering 'Deus Ex Machina'. But it simplified everything, at least.

When Friday evening finally rolled around, classes had finished for the day and the sisters, Jordan and Bear were sitting in the Rec Room with Connor and Mel, two of their age-based classmates who happened to be cousins. The five of them were finishing up with their Med Sci homework, and Alex was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"What do you think, Alex?"

She looked up from her work, trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind. "Huh?"

Her friends laughed at her deer-in-the-headlights confusion until Mel took sympathy on her and said, "You look wrecked. Maybe you should call it a night?"

Alex nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think I might. This week has been insane. I'll see you all later." She turned to Valarie, "You coming?"

Valarie shook her head. "Nah, I was going to finish this and then see if I can go beat that monster in the Simulator." 'Simulator' was what Valarie had taken to calling the VR feature in the mini cinema.

"Hey! Don't leave me out!" Jordan cried. Alex smiled as she packed up her things and leave.

Alex then retreated upstairs to her dorm. D.C. was already in bed reading a book and her startlingly blue-green eyes narrowed in displeasure when Alex stepped into their shared space.

"You can glare at me all you want, but it's not going to change the fact that this is my room too," Alex said, too tired to care if she sounded rude.

"Maybe I'm hoping that one of these days you'll get the hint that you're not welcome," D.C. said, her gaze moving back to her book.

Alex snorted. "Trust me, I've been reading you loud and clear all week. But this is me not caring."

With that, Alex settled into bed for the night. The week's events caught up to her the moment her head hit the pillow and she was sound asleep before her roommate could even voice a snarky reply.


	5. Knives Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Her is your big boi chapter, clocking in at 11,551 words
> 
> Also, I already have plans for Draekora, so don't you dare accuse me of abandoning this story.
> 
> I plan the long game.
> 
> Also, note: Shit will have gone down by that point.
> 
> Nyeheha!

"Valarieeee, let me iiiiiin!" Jordan whined from the other side of the door.

"Nope~" Valarie replied chirpily, "Alex is still sleeping and I'm not letting you hide out from Finn." Valarie could practically feel Jordan scowling.

"You're horrible, you know that?"

"I feed off the suffering of others~" Valarie replied. Jordan groaned.

"Can you at least keep me company until I head to the gallows?"

Valarie teleported outside. "Eh, sure." She answered. Jordan whipped around and stared at her in bewilderment.

"How?! The dorms are…"

"Gift-proof?" Valarie finished Jordan's sentence. "Yeah, figured a way around that."

"Care to enlighten me with your knowledge?" Jordan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you know how space-folding works?"

"No, I do not," Jordan answered, keeping up his suave act.

"Then such knowledge would be squandered on you," Valarie smirked, boobing Jordan on the nose as she began walking.

"Wait," Jordan said, "What about Alex?"

"Don't worry, I left her a note," Valarie reassured him. "Now c'mon, let's get some breakfast."

"Now you're speaking my language!"

* * *

After eating, and allowing Jordan to be abducted by Finn, Valarie found herself under a tree overlooking a lake. She had already done all her homework, being an unnaturally studious person despite her punkish attire and teasing nature.

But now following that trend she was trying to create knives. And throwing them at a target.

'Okay, steel is made from iron and carbon, iron is made from hematite, coke and limestone… shape it and…' Valarie thought as she melded the correct elements together to form a short wonky-looking two-sided blade with an even smaller handle that parted for a hole.

'Eh, I'm getting better.' She thought to herself as she purposely threw the blade wide of the tree. The knife's trajectory curved around, hitting the opposite side of the tree. Valarie walked around to see if the blade hit, finding it embedded with several other knives of varying craftsmanship. Valarie game a small fist pump before returning to her starting point and creating a new knife.

After satisfying her knife throwing, she removed and stored the small blades in a bag she had practised making. Valarie then turned her attention to her teleporting, more specifically, teleporting other things. Rocks were the easiest, to begin with, Valarie just applied the same properties with her own teleporting but with the rock. She had classified teleportation into three categories; replacing, reassembling and folding.

Replacing was simply her moving what she wanted to teleport directly to where she wanted it. It was straightforward but took more calculations.

Reassembling was creating an identical copy of whatever was teleported at a location and destroying the original. It was by far the easiest of the three, however, Valarie shied away from it due to its …questionable moral implications.

Folding, took Valarie a while to discover, but she began using it frequently once she did. Instead of moving an object through space, she moved the space around the object, effectively removing the space between the target and the destination. Like making two holes in a map and then folding it to make them overlap.

Since it was an inanimate, non-living rock Valarie opted for using reassembly. It was a success, to say the least. The rock was still off by thirty centimetres or so, still, far better than she had been expecting.

A pile of rocks later and she was satisfied by the 4cm increase in her accuracy. And also was interrupted by a pony. A small, dog-sized pony with a shaggy brown coat. Valarie stared at the pony who stared back.

"Uhhh… hi." Valarie gave a small wave. The pony huffed in reply before trotting away. "Okay by then," Valarie said to herself as she turned back to her equipment. A few seconds later the pony had returned and was nudging her. "Oh, you want me to follow you, little guy?"

The pony gave no response except to once again trot away. Valarie shrugged, picked up her bag of knives and followed her new shaggy friend. The pair reached a gate that the pony butted with its head a bit.

"Oh! You want me to open this gate for you?" Valarie asked rhetorically, knowing she wouldn't get an actual answer. She unlatched the gate before the pony happily trotted through. Valarie, having been drawn away from her practice, decided to continue to follow the little pony more. Which, apparently, lead her straight to Alex under another tree. Valarie smiled, a plan formulating in her head.

* * *

"Hey little fella," Alex greeted the pony, who she had known to be monster from her time in equestrian studies, "What are you doing sneaking up on me?"

"looking for apples." Monster replied. Alex blanched. Did the pony just talk?! Alex stared at Monster with wide eyes, that was until…

"AHHHHAHAHAHAHA!" Laughter erupted from behind the tree. Alex turned to see Valarie emerging from behind. "Ohoho, you… you should have seen your face!" Valarie continued to laugh at her. "Oh, this pony just talked to me!" She mocked Alex, still laughing. Alex scowled at her sister.

"Okay, ha-ha," Alex said grumpily, "Glad to know what a kind sister you are." Alex's glare did nothing to stop Valarie's boisterous laughter. Alex sighed, calming herself down. "Well, if you want to prank me so much, care to tell me how you did it?"

"Sure, sure," Valarie wiped a tear away, "Well, you know how sound works right?"

"Of course,"

"Well, I simply teleported the soundwaves to emanate from where our little buddy was," Valarie explained.

"Sometimes I really hate that you're so smart." Alex groaned.

"Eh, deal with it," Valarie replied as she helped Alex up. The two returned to the dorms, chatting about how they spent their day whilst Monster followed behind.

"Well, it seems like you two made a friend." A voice appeared as they approached the dorm entrance.

"It wasn't hard," Alex answered, "I gave him an apple the other day. We're best friends for life now."

"If only it was always that easy," Dear said.

"Wait, isn't that how you and Jordan became friends?" Valarie asked, a gleam in her eyes and a sly smile on her lips. Bear doubled over laughing at her joke as Alex tried, and failed, to stifle the wheezing laughs she was making.

"You really are one-of-a-kind Valarie Jennings," Bear said to her once he was over his laughing fit. "On the subject of Jordan, either of you seen him?"

"Nope," Alex said, "Valarie just left me a note telling me where everyone was."

"We got breakfast together, but I ditched him when Finn came a 'knocking," Valarie told him. "How long do you think Finn keep him running?"

Bear shrugged. "I don't—"

"SPARKER! GET BACK HERE!"

The three teens turned to see Jordan sprinting towards the dorm building with Finn hot on his heels. The PE coach was waving a pitchfork in the air and looked like a rabid farmer chasing after an errant cow.

Jordan quickly reached the entryway and ducked behind them. "Hide me!" he whispered to their backs.

"Okay!" Valarie said happily, poking his forehead. A moment later, Jordan disappeared in a yellow blip. Both Bear and Alex stared bug-eyed at the spot where Jordan had just been.

"Where's he gone? I know he came this way!" Finn yelled, surprising all of them as they reared away.

"Who are you looking for, Mr Finneus?" Bear asked, his voice mesmerising.

Finn blinked at him a few times, as though he had to gather his thoughts. "Eh? Oh. Sparker. Jordan Sparker. He was doing detention with me and I haven't finished with him yet."

"Sir, it's nearly dinner time," Bear said, again using the smooth and captivating voice. "Surely you don't want to miss dinner?"

"I'm sure Jordan wouldn't want to miss dinner," Valarie whispered to Alex, who stifled a giggle.

"But—but I'm not done with him yet!" Finn valiantly tried to keep himself composed, but his blazing anger had already cooled enough that he lowered the pitchfork to rest on the ground. "There's still plenty of light left for work."

"But surely you don't want to work anymore tonight?" Bear continued. His words were so hypnotic that Alex wondered if Finn would want to work ever again, let alone tonight. "It's such a beautiful evening. I'm sure you have plenty to do without having to worry about babysitting a student. There will be enough time for that when he joins you again tomorrow."

Finn rubbed his stubbly chin thoughtfully. "I suppose you're right. Plenty of time tomorrow. And I am a bit peckish." His stomach gurgled and Alex saw Bear smile triumphantly.

"If you see Sparker, tell him he'd better get a good night's sleep, 'cause he's gonna have a big day tomorrow."

"Certainly, Mr Finneus," Bear said, still using his charming voice

Finn nodded to himself and walked away from them.

"And that," Bear turned to the girls, "Is how it's done." He then focused on Valarie, "What happened to Jordan?"

Valarie simply pointed upwards. Alex and Bear craned their heads to look above them, and there, balancing on the entryway, was Jordan.

"Hey guys," he waved, "Do you think you can help me down?"

* * *

The weeks passed surprisingly quickly and soon enough almost a whole month had disappeared. The Jennings sisters' lessons continued in much the same way as her first week—they were still completely insane for Alex and the time of her life for Valarie. Their weekdays were filled with classes, classes and more classes, while the weekends were spent catching up on an endless pile of homework and hanging out with Jordan and Bear. Despite Alex knowing that they didn't belong in Medora, she soon began to enjoy the absolute randomness of Akarnae, as well as the people who inhabited the school. Valarie, in Alex's opinion, had adapted freakishly well, seeming to do even better here than she did in any of her other of their previous schools, and was an absolute social magnet, having many friends outside Jordan and bear, but none quite as close as the two jokesters.

Four weeks after her arrival in Medora, Alex sat in the food court deliberating what to have for lunch (as Bear Valarie and Jordan were already digging into their own meals) when someone sat down beside her.

"I heard about what happened this morning. Are you okay?"

Alex looked up from her menu to see Mel's concerned expression.

"Oh, heyph Mel," Valarie greeted, mouth partially filled with food.

"Oh! Hi Val!" Mel greeted back.

"It was a bit of a shock, but I'm all right now," Alex said, drawing Mel's attention back to her as she recalled her near-catastrophic events of the morning. Compared to what might have been, Alex's sore throat and chest were nothing to complain about.

Their PE class had been held in the massive Lake Fee that morning so Finn could test their 'water survival skills'. In the act of trying to save one of her classmates from what she'd thought was an actual drowning, Alex had nearly lost consciousness under the water. Valarie had pulled her to the surface at the last second before Finn had thumped what had seemed like the entire lake out of her lungs before she'd been able to breathe freely again. Then he'd asked her if she was an idiot because of course the entire exercise had been set-up and her classmates had never been in actual danger, to begin with.

Mel leaned in closer. "I heard you nearly drowned." She shuddered. "I'm so glad I'm only a Beta for PE. Finn's a real pain in the you-know-what…"

"Ass," Valarie corrected,

"…but he doesn't make us do anything dangerous."

"It's not so bad," Alex said weakly, trying to convince them both.

Jordan snorted from across the table and she realised how untrue her statement really was. He and Bear had been beside themselves with worry for her when she hadn't resurfaced for so long, but they'd both been too far away to do anything. Valarie had been with them, but she had easily teleported over to the lake and dragged her sister out.

"You don't get to talk, Al," Valarie spoked, putting her drink down, "Even though I pulled you out, you were just lucky Finn knew CPR, or I would have started teleporting the water out and I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified for that yet."

"My sister everyone," Alex spoke sarcastically, "Finds quantum physics easier than resuscitating a drowning person."

Everyone at the table chuckled slightly at Alex's grim humour. Alex was then distracted by a tap on her shoulder, finding Fletcher standing behind her.

"Finn told me about your class this morning, Alex," the doctor said. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm okay," she answered, fidgeting under his watchful gaze. He must have heard the strained tone of her raw vocal cords since his eyes narrowed in concern. Thankfully, he didn't press the issue.

"Very well, then," Fletcher said after a pause in which Mel quietly excused herself to go and find her cousin. "If you're at all concerned, please drop in to see me."

"I will," she promised.

Fletcher nodded and began to walk away, calling over his shoulder, "By the way, Maggie asked me to tell you that if you ever skip her class again, she'll give you detention for a month."

Alex groaned as soon as Fletcher was far enough away not to hear, and she looked up to see her sister and friends' amused expressions. None of them had known she'd skipped her Archery class in favour of a hot shower and some warm clothes after PE.

"You dogged out on archery? Bold move." Valarie gave a slow clap. "Maggie is just looking for an excuse to hit me up with a detention."

"Why? I thought you were great at archery." Bear asked.

"I am, but she doesn't like how I keep getting bullseyes without much effort," Valarie said with a wink.

* * *

In medical sciences, Professor Luranda spent the first half of the lesson droning on and on about the properties of Silver Cloverfoot, a beautiful—and deadly—purple and silver flower. Just when Alex thought she might drop off to sleep, an alarm sounded. It wasn't the usual gong noise that signalled a class change or meal times. Instead, it was a wailing, keening, high-pitched siren that caused the class to clutch their ears and cry out in confusion.

"Silence!" Professor Luranda shouted from the front of the room, her rainbow robe contrasting with her rapidly paling face.

Everyone froze at her command and all noise ceased until the only sound left was the screaming of the alarm.

They all watched, ears ringing, as Luranda picked up her Communications Globe. It was a black, glassy sphere about the size of a tennis ball with swirling white mist inside. When Alex had first seen one in her History class, Bear had explained to her and Valarie that the Globe allowed the academy staff to contact one another immediately in the case of emergencies, before answering an ensemble of questions from Valarie.

After Bear did answer those questions, he told them how they also had built-in Bubbledoors for instantaneous transportation. Bubbledoors were apparently were pre-designated portals on demand. The slew of questions from Valarie that followed had eaten up at least the next hour or so of Alex's life. Bubbledoors were, in fact, the inspiration for Valarie's folding-type teleportation, as they employed wormholes to a similar effect.

Luranda spoke quietly into the Globe with her back turned to the students. Over her shoulder, Alex could see the faint outline of Jarvis's face inside the swirling mist of the sphere.

Eventually, the professor lowered the Globe and turned back to her students. "We are to wait here until further instructed."

'That's it?' Alex asked herself.

She knew better than to question the strict professor, but she shared a glance with Connor who was seated beside her and she could see he was thinking the same as her. What were they waiting for?

To her surprise, the professor didn't continue teaching. Instead, Luranda took up a position next to the transparent door at the front of the room.

Alex leaned in to ask Connor about the purpose of the one-way visual doors. "Why are—?"

She stopped because two things happened. First, the siren ended, trailing off into a ringing silence. And second, the room instantly blackened.

Alex heard her classmates scraping their chairs away from their benches and standing. Once again there were exclamations of surprise, and in some cases, fear. While uneasy herself, Alex didn't think it was wise to get up when she couldn't see anything. They were in a medical laboratory, after all. The last thing she needed was to stumble in the dark and fall onto a scalpel.

A moment later the lights in the classroom came back on. Alex blinked away the stars in her vision and noticed that the corridor on the other side of the transparent door was still an inky black, thick and gritty.

"Please take your seats, students. There's nothing to worry about," Luranda said. "It's just the Lockdown procedure."

Her words weren't convincing. Luranda was clearly anxious about something, and she continued to gaze out into the dark corridor.

Alex turned around to see how Jordan and Bear were faring, and she felt better when she saw them calmly reading their textbooks. She tried to get their attention, but they were too caught up in their work.

She turned back around to the front of the room before her brain registered what she'd seen, and she snapped back to look at them again. Jordan and Bear never did schoolwork unasked. Well, maybe Bear, but certainly not Jordan.

Alex narrowed her eyes and peered closer at her friends. She gasped in surprise when, as Bear moved to turn a page of his book, she could see through his arm to the wall behind him. Even the book was partly transparent.

Alex then looked to Valarie, who was writing down in her notebook she had made, which she kept all of her experimental formulas in. Alex was about to turn back to inspect 'Jordan' and 'Bear' more when she saw Valarie's form flicker slightly. It was less than a second and was barely noticeable, but Alex still saw it. Something wasn't right.

Without thinking, Alex started to rise from her seat, but a hand pressed down on her shoulder and pushed her back onto her chair.

"Don't move," Jordan whispered in her ear.

He must have been using his gift, but she had no idea why—nor did she know how there was a semi-opaque copy of him doing homework up the back of the room. Alex couldn't ask, because Luranda chose that moment to take her eyes off the door and glance around her classroom, making sure everything was still in order.

Alex held her breath as the professor's cool gaze swept over her. She could still feel Jordan's hand on her shoulder, and she prayed that Luranda wouldn't notice her not-completely-solid friends and flickering sister. She released her breath only when the older woman seemed satisfied enough to return her attention to the door.

Alex didn't dare speak, but she pulled her paper close and wrote four words:

**What are you doing?**

She was surprised, if not suspecting, when the pen floated out of her grip and began writing by itself.

**Something we shouldn't, coming?**

Valarie must have been somewhere then. Alex kept her eyes facing the front of the room but gave a quick nod. There was no way she was going to miss out on whatever he had planned.

She flinched when a different voice spoke in her other ear.

"Drink this," whispered Bear, and a vial was pressed into her hand under the table. "It will feel a bit weird but try not to move much."

Jordan being invisible—transcendent—she could understand, but Bear too? Alex expected her nerdy/geeky/punk sister to figure out how to go invisible at some point, so that wasn't a surprise. She decided to worry about that later and instead knocked her pen off the bench, giving her an excuse to bend and retrieve it. While she was under the table she quickly swallowed the contents of the small vial—which tasted faintly of strawberries—before sitting back up in her seat and holding as still as possible.

It only took a few moments before she was overcome by the oddest sensation. Her flesh began to tingle as if she had pins and needles, while her heartbeat throbbed loudly in her ears. Her temperature spiked feverishly, and the warmth expanded slowly outward from her body, growing like a tangible presence as it pulsed in time with her heart. Even her clothes were pulsing outward, only stopping after they had risen about half a centimetre above her actual self. As she looked closer, she realised that her expanded figure wasn't completely solid, but it was still convincing enough to get by. Just like the copies of Jordan and Bear studying up the back of the room, Alex now had her very own copycat illusion.

"Are you ready for this?" Jordan whispered once the pulsing finished.

Alex nodded again and his grip tightened on her shoulder. One moment she was grounded, sitting in her seat, and the next she felt like she was soaring. She closed her eyes as the feeling washed over her, enjoying the floating sensation.

A moment or two passed before the feeling began to fade. Alex still felt like she was soaring on a cloud or floating in water, but she also had a better idea of where her feet were and how to use them. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, trying in vain to clear her vision. It was like a shower screen covered her eyes; she could still see everything, but it was all slightly blurred around the edges. No matter what she did, her sight wouldn't clear, and she realised it must be a result of whatever Jordan had done to her.

"Let's go," Jordan said quietly, keeping a tight hold on her arm and pulling her up from her seat.

She was about to protest—surely Luranda would notice the movement—but she snapped her mouth closed as she watched her body step out of the replica, leaving the copy in her seat. Her decoy didn't move much; she just stayed looking towards the front of the room, blinking.

No one noticed that there were two of her in the classroom, and since she could now see Valarie, Jordan and Bear perfectly while everything else around them was still blurred, she guessed that Jordan must somehow be covering her with his gift.

"How—?"

"Shh!" Jordan interrupted. "I'll explain outside."

With one hand on her shoulder and the other gripping Bear, and Valarie grasping his shoulder, Jordan led them straight towards the wall.

"Jord—!" Alex didn't even get a chance to finish whispering his name before he thrust all three of them into the wall.

Or rather, through the wall.

Oh. Right. She'd forgotten he could do that. Instead of slamming into the solid barrier, she felt as if her body had been sucked into a vacuum and spat out the other side. Real pleasant.

Steadying herself, Alex looked at her new surroundings. All she could see was, well, nothing. It was still pitch-black.

"Let's try and get outside," Bear said from somewhere to her left. "Valarie?"

"You need but of asked my good sir," Valarie responded, also from Alex's left, but further away.

Alex felt a rush, as if she was being moved faster than light itself, whilst also being compressed and expanded before the feeling subsided as quickly as it began. And then suddenly, the quartet was outside, which was not pitch-black like the interior of the Gen-Sec building.

"W-w-wha…" Alex stammered, wide-eyed.

"Oh, that's right!" Valarie, now visible, smacked her forehead, "I never teleported you before! Sorry, Alex, it's a bit weird for first-timers."

"Okay…" Alex replied dumbly. "Wait, wasn't this Bear's first time too?"

"Nope," Bear answered, also visible along with Jordan, "I got teleported when Val, Fitzy and I were running experiments on Val's gift."

"Okay, but Jordan used his gift on us right?" Alex asked.

Jordan looked at her strangely. "How else do you think we got out without being caught? And walked through walls?"

"I just—I didn't know people could do that. Share their gifts, I mean."

"Val can share he gift, why are you so surprised?"

"Okay, first off Sparker," Valarie put her hands on her hips, "I do not share my gift, my gift in and of itself is the manipulation of tangible matter, meaning even if I use it on another person, it still falls in the limitations of me using my gift. And secondly," she looked to Alex, "Yes Alex, some can. If you paid attention in core skills, you'd know this."

"I-I pay attention!" Alex protested, an embarrassed blush spreading across her face.

"No, you don't" Valarie rejected.

"It has its limitations," Jordan interrupted. "It only works with physical contact, which is why I had to be holding onto you the whole time."

"So, I'm not transcended anymore?" Alex asked. That would explain why her blurred vision had cleared—and where it, and the earlier anti-gravity sensation, had come from to start with.

"No," Jordan confirmed. "But we should be okay out here since everyone else will be stuck inside with the Lockdown."

"What is the Lockdown?" Alex asked.

Jordan looked at Bear and they both shrugged. "No idea."

"Honestly, the two of you are very useless sometimes." Valarie chided, her small, amused smile betraying her otherwise annoyed look.

"That's what we're investigating!" Bear protested, practically bouncing with anticipation. "Let's go see what we can find out!"

"I think we should head to the Tower," Jordan said. "That's where Jarvis'll be, and if anyone knows what's going on, it'll be him." They all then looked to Valarie, who rolled her eyes at their stares, but again, still smiling.

"All right," She relented, offering a hand, "Grab on,"

They all took a hold of her hand, a familiar rush coming over them as they appeared at the entrance to the tower. stepping inside, their journey became more complicated.

"Did anyone bring a torch?" Alex asked into the darkness. Like the building they'd just left, the entire Tower was pitch-black.

"I could probably make one," Valarie said, closing her eyes, "But I need a bit to think of the components…"

"No need," Bear said from somewhere ahead of her. "We've got Jordan."

Before Alex could ask what he meant exactly, Jordan spoke. "I know my way around this place better than my way to the food court."

"You'd have to," Bear replied. "This is practically your second home, what with all the trouble you get into."

"It has its uses," Jordan admitted.

"Wait! Jordan!" she cried. "How can you see where you're going?"

"Honestly Alex, you're so naive sometimes." Valarie said to her, "He _can't_ see where he's going. Can you?" She asked Jordan.

"Nope, but I don't need to. The stairs are over here." He answered, leading the group through the sea of darkness.

Sure enough, a few steps more and they heard a 'Thunk!' when Jordan's foot collided with the staircase. He cursed quietly from the pain, and Valarie laughed at him, before he muttered out a grumbled, "Watch your step."

With only those words for a warning, Jordan continued to pull Alex forward, and she concentrated on stepping up the stairs without falling on her face.

They continued upwards for so long that Alex wondered if they were climbing to the moon. The darkness was so disillusioning that she felt as if they'd ascended much higher than the Tower stood.

"We're almost there," Jordan whispered as he finally led them onto a flat surface. "Just like our dorm rooms, Marselle's office is warded against unidentified entry, so I won't be able to use my gift to get us inside. But I should be able to get us into his antechamber. We might hear something from there."

"Marselle's office?" Valarie asked.

"It's the only way he could have communicated with the other teachers since only the headmaster has primary access to all their Globes." Bear explained.

"I'll try and get us into the antechamber but, whatever you do, don't let go of me," Jordan said. "And don't make any noise."

The four made it to the antechamber without any trouble, but when Karter's voice appeared, Alex almost jumped out of her skin before Valarie placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"What's taking so long?" Karter asked in his usual gruff, everything-disappoints-me voice.

"When the Lockdown was activated, it shut down the Tower's identification protocol. I have to reset the system before we can enter the room," Doc replied. He was standing beside a panel in the wall, fiddling with some wires. "I'm working as fast as I can, but please remember that I'm a historian. Technology doesn't always agree with me."

"Take all the time you need, Doc," Finn said in a tight voice, pacing near the doorway. "We'll just wait here while he walks around the campus like he owns the place."

"We don't even know he's behind this," Doc murmured into the panel, casting a quick, anxious glance towards the door of the antechamber. "And besides, it's not like he could get very far out there, anyway," he added, tilting his head towards the inky blackness shown through yet another transparent door.

"Bah!" Finn grunted, aiming a kick at the wall. "That's just what he'd want us to think! Not that it even matters—we all know what he's here for. I don't see why Jarvis called us up here when we should be out there stopping him, especially since this Lockdown is just making his job easier! I say we should just go and get the—"

"Might I recommend we continue this conversation when we're certain no one else is listening?"

Valarie had sensed that something was off but didn't realise what it was until the unknown man spoke. He was very handsome, in a rugged kind of way, with dark hair and a strong jawline showing a hint of stubble. He was dressed all in black, with a cape similar to the shimmering one that Caspar Lennox always wore, and finally, a dagger was belted to his waist to finish the look. Despite his relaxed position, he looked… dangerous.

He was instantly Valarie's new hero.

Mainly because he was staring straight at her, despite her current invisibility.

"You can never be too careful," the man added, his dark eyes locked onto hers.

Felt Alex shiver, gripping Valarie's hand so hard she felt it would break.

"Calm down, Ghost." Finn waved his hand at the other man dismissively. "There's no one here but us."

"Hunter's right, Finn," Karter said, his eyes darting around the room. "We should watch what we say until we know what's going on."

Finn mumbled to himself, but it was clear he was outvoted so he slumped against the wall to wait.

The dangerous man still hadn't taken his eyes off Valarie. She could feel Alex's hand begin to turn clammy. Alex then squeezed Valarie's hand hardly again, causing Valarie to have to restrain herself from groaning in pain.

Before he could respond, the group was pushed back as the room began filling with people who literally appeared out of thin air. All of her teachers arrived within seconds, along with some other people Alex had seen around the campus but didn't know.

She pressed herself closer to the wall when everyone in the cramped room began speaking at once.

"What's happening—"

"Is it—"

"Why haven't we—"

"Does anyone know if—"

"SILENCE!"

Like most people in the room, the group of teens jumped at the unexpectedly loud noise. Who would have thought that the quiet historian had such a powerful set of lungs?

"Unless anyone else here knows how to override the Tower's security system," Doc growled, "I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep the noise down. I'm finding it rather difficult to concentrate."

The new arrivals mumbled their apologies and started up quiet conversations. Since no one seemed to know anything, Valarie began scanning the crowd, unlike it Alex, Jordan and Bear were doing, which was looking at the people closest to them. From what Valarie saw, Karter had just asked Tayla and Maggie why everyone had arrived at the Tower all at once

"Jarvis called us," Maggie said, waving her Communications Globe. She still held a bow in her free hand and had a quiver of arrows strapped to her back. "He asked us to come straight away to discuss the situation."

"I guess he didn't realise we'd be locked out of the office," Tayla said. "I had a spare period and was in the staffroom, so I don't know what happened outside. Were you in the middle of a class, Mags?"

Maggie nodded. "When the Lockdown first activated, the entire campus was blacked out; even the sun couldn't pierce through the darkness. I was teaching an Alpha class—it was pure luck that no one got shot. But when the secondary protocol kicked in, the Lockdown dispersed back into the buildings only. I moved my students to the nearest lit classroom and waited with them until I was called here. How long has Doc been at the control panel?"

"Not long," Karter replied, "He'll have it figured out soon enough."

"All done," Doc called out, as if on cue. "We just have to wait for the system to reboot."

Valarie watched as all the teacher's expressions morphed into relief. But as she continued to look around, she found that Ghost-Hunter-man was no longer leaning against the wall. She took a second glance around the room, before spotting him standing beside Professor Luranda.

"That boy, the one whose gift can make him invisible," he said to Luranda, "did you have him in your class just now?"

Valarie felt her companions freeze.

"Jordan Sparker?" Luranda straightened her multi-coloured coat. "Yes, I had the entire third-year class."

"Was he in your lab when you left?"

"Of course he was," Luranda said. "All my students were accounted for. Sparker in particular, since I know all too well his penchant for troublemaking. When I left, he was sitting up the back of my room with his head bent over a textbook."

"I see," the Hunter man said, his eyes flicking over to Alex and her friends for a fraction of a second. "That is a relief."

He almost looked amused.

"And What about Jennings? Valarie, that is." Marmaduke asked. Now it was Valarie's turn to freeze.

"She was there as well," Luranda raised an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"

"She has been recently attempting to mimic Sparker's invisibility by reflecting light or something."

"We're in!" Doc called when the door finally opened, distracting the teachers from the prospect of Valarie's invisibility.

"Well done, Doc," Jarvis's voice carried in from the next room. "I forgot that you'd be locked out, but well done indeed."

Valarie felt Alex taking a step forward and tried to get a glimpse inside the headmaster's office as the teachers streamed through the door. From Valarie's own angle, she could see that it looked like a boardroom, with a large rectangular desk spanning the length of the room. The best part was the far wall which was completely transparent and looked straight out over the entire academy.

"All right everyone, please take a seat," Jarvis called as the teachers continued to pour through the door. "We have a delicate situation on our hands, and we must deal with it immediately to ensure the safety of everyone residing on the academy grounds.

"As many of you might have guessed, we had an unauthorised visitor arrive just after lunch." Jarvis's voice was deep and serious. "We can't be sure, but we believe the intruder was here on a scouting mission. We have no evidence indicating he is aware that what he's after is here at Akarnae, so it could have been a simple coincidence. But coincidence or not had his mission been successful, I can't begin to describe how catastrophic the consequences would have been. Thankfully, the Lockdown procedure impeded his search, and he has since fled the grounds."

There was a loaded silence before Jarvis continued. "While earlier I was unsure, I can now confirm that our intruder was—"

The last person stepped into the office. The door clicked shut.

"Of all the rotten timing," Bear whispered. "We were just about to hear—"

"I think you've heard quite enough, Barnold," interrupted a quiet voice that once again froze the four friends to the spot.

Well, this was one way of meeting your new hero.

* * *

Fear quickly overtook Alex when she saw the Hunter man standing near the door and staring straight at their 'invisible' faces.

"I believe it's time for you three to return to your class," he said before he opened the door to the headmaster's office and slipped quietly inside. A surprising reappearance of Valarie's teleportation feeling later, and they were back in the tower's lobby and once again visible.

"That was intense!" Jordan said, exhaling a laugh.

"Who was that man?" Alex asked, still sweating from before. "And how did he know we were there? He was staring at us practically the whole time!"

"That was Hunter," Bear said, looking as panicked as Alex felt. "Some people call him 'Ghost' since you never know where he is or what he's doing unless he wants you to know."

"Well, it's safe to say he is now my hero." Valarie smiled, seeming to be the calmest of the four.

"He's brilliant," Jordan added. "We'll hopefully have him next year for Stealth and Subterfuge. I can't wait. Bear and I have been counting down ever since we first heard about his class."

Valarie balked. "We get to take classes with him?!" she almost shouted.

"Yep!" Jordan smiled.

"I will figure out how to use my time manipulation if it is the last thing I do. Then, I will use it to travel to the time when I can seek tutelage under that man." Valarie said, overdramatically.

Ignoring her sister, Alex reacted completely the opposite to her and shuddered at the very thought of having that man as a teacher. "Why next year?"

"SAS is restricted to fourth years and up," Jordan explained. "Even then it's very exclusive since Hunter only picks a handful of students who he thinks will be worth his time."

That was good news for Alex. It was unlikely she would still be in Medora for the next school year, but even if she was, she couldn't think of any reason why Hunter would consider her to be 'worth his time'.

"But how did he know we were there?"

"Not much gets past Hunter," Jordan said. "He probably heard us breathing or something."

"Okay, just asking, but do any of you know a how time travel works? Because the more you talk, the faster I want to get into his class." Valarie joked.

"But from across the room?" Alex asked in disbelief, again ignoring her sister's theatrics.

"If there's one thing you need to remember about Hunter," Bear said, "and it's this: never underestimate him."

"Is that so, Barnold?" Alex smiled, unable to help herself. Despite the seriousness of their conversation, teasing Bear about his name was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"Uh, yeah, about that…" He pulled the collar of his shirt awkwardly. "I really do prefer Bear."

Jordan snorted. "So would anyone whose parents had named them Barnold."

Bear didn't seem bothered by the ribbing. "At least I came with a ready-made nickname."

"And what's that?" Valarie asked, leaning up against him with a sly look.

"My full name is Barnold Eustace Arthur Ronnigan," he explained. "B-E-A-R."

Alex cocked her head to the side. "That works well."

"I don't know about you guys," Jordan interjected, "but I think we should take Hunter's advice and get inside before Luranda comes back."

Valarie, Alex and Bear agreed, knowing that with the professor at the meeting, the danger of being caught had lessened significantly. Well, caught again. Both the sisters were still unsure why Hunter hadn't punished them when they had to have broken a heap of school rules.

Grabbing a hold of Valarie's hand again, she teleported them directly outside the classroom, where they could slip back in with Jordan's transcendence. Bear explained how their replacements worked, it was a concoction named 'Desert Oasis', which Bear than had her drink a canceller to dispel it when they went in.

"Wait!" Alex said right before Jordan took her hand, "I know That Bear and Jordan took the desert oasis, but what did you use, Valarie? Your illusion didn't look the same."

"Hardlight projection," Valarie winked, "Put it on a loop, nobody will suspect it."

Alex nodded, accepting the answer and took Jordan's hand to sneak back into their class, returning back to their seat as their respective copies faded away.

A short while later, a Bubbledoor opened at the front of the room and Professor Luranda appeared in a swirl of colourful light that quickly faded like mist. Her face was alarmingly pale and pinched with anxiety.

"Classes are cancelled for the afternoon," the professor told them. "In an hour there will be an assembly in the food court where Administrator Jarvis will address today's events. Attendance is mandatory, but you're free to do as you please with the rest of the time."

Luranda walked over to her desk and placed the Communications Globe back onto its holder. When she turned around to discover them all still in their seats, she made a shooing gesture. "Go on then. Class dismissed."

Still, no one moved.

Alex fidgeted in her seat, feeling as uncertain as the rest of her classmates looked. The moment she shifted, a stab of pain spasmed in her chest, reminding her again of all the lake water she'd inhaled earlier that day—and just how hard Finn had thumped on her back to get it all out. She sucked in a sharp, burning breath and immediately felt as if a thousand fire ants were stinging the back of her throat while a herd of elephants played football with her lungs. All she wanted to do was get out of the classroom and find some relief for her pain, but like everyone else, she was hesitant to leave just yet.

One of the girls in the front row—Kelly Gleeson—tentatively raised her hand. "Excuse me, Professor, but you haven't set any homework."

Kelly had just verbalised what everyone else was thinking. Luranda never failed to set homework, and that was the reason why no one had moved.

The professor snorted, and Alex thought it was perhaps the most undignified sound that she'd ever heard the strict woman make.

"I'm sure you can manage for one night without it, Miss Gleeson," Luranda said. "Now, off you all go before I change my mind."

Her words were enough to motivate them all to hurry out of the classroom.

* * *

"How good is this!" Bear cheered, as he, Valarie and Jordan joined Alex and Connor in the corridor.

"Yeah, not only did we skip class and not get busted for it, but we've got no homework! Plus we get the afternoon off!" Jordan said, doing a happy jig that should have looked lame but he somehow managed to pull off.

"Skip class?" Mel asked, having just joined the group

"Don't worry my little Mel," Valarie slung an arm around her, "I fully intend to tell you and Conner here the full story. But first, how could you not tell me about somebody as cool as Hunter?!"

As Mel and Conner laughed, Jordan tugged on Alex's elbow to keep her from following. "Are you all right? You look like you're about to throw up or something."

She grimaced. "I'm not feeling too good."

"I'm not surprised," he said. "You've had kind of a rough day."

She chuckled at his understatement and winced at the pain it caused.

"Why don't you go and see Fletcher?" Bear suggested, his concern evident. "Whatever's wrong, he'll be able to fix you."

Alex found herself nodding in agreement.

"I'll cover for you," Jordan said.

"And I'll come to get you after a bit," Valarie included, "Then we'll see what Jarvis wants to say that we don't already know."

Alex thanked them and he hurried to catch up with the others while she headed down to visit the doctor.

* * *

After they recounted their tail to Conner and Mel, and a healthy dose of relaxation, Valarie told the others she was going to get Alex and quickly teleported off to acquire her sister.

Valarie appeared right beside Alex, facing her.

"Sup Al," Valarie announced her presence, almost scaring Valarie out of her Skin.

"VALARIE!" Alex screamed in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"

"Coming to get you," She answered before looking over to the stranger standing across from Alex. _Damn, how did her sister know somebody this smoking hot?!_ "Who's your friend?" Valarie asked Alex.

"Oh, um, Valarie, this is Aven." Alex then turned to the man, "Aven, this is my sister, Valarie."

"We aren't really sisters," Valarie corrected, "But we've been so close for so long we pretty much are."

"Alex, you never told me there was another like you," Aven spoke to Alex, ignoring Valarie completely.

"well at the time, I didn't know she was going to be here," Alex answered. Valarie grabbed on to Alex's should leaning over to her and whispering.

"Whoa there Alex, does this guy no about…" Valarie eyed Aven, "Where we came from?"

"Yeah, at least, I think so. He wasn't really to clear on that when we first met."

"And when did you first meet?" Valarie asked.

"When I first came through the door," Alex answered honestly. Valarie nodded and straightened up.

"Well Aven, it has been a pleasure meeting you, but I did come to pick my sister up for a mandatory assembly, so we must be leaving now."

"Well then, until we next meet, Valarie, Alex." Aven gave a smiled that would make any girl swoon. A moment later Alex felt the pull of Valarie's teleportation before the sister ended up into the food court, which had been cleared out for the assembly.

* * *

Later that night, Alex collapsed onto Jordan's bed after telling him and Bear about the events of her afternoon, and filling Valarie as well in about her first encounter with Aven. The four of them had retreated to the boys' dorm straight after the assembly where Jarvis had assured the students that there was nothing for them to worry about as the Lockdown had been merely a precaution. A precaution for what, he hadn't said. And despite his reassurances, Alex had noticed his pale complexion even from the back of the room.

"Let me get this straight," Jordan said. "You ran into the same strange guy that you first met when you arrived here, talked with him for a while, and then Valarie popped in, which he was as creepy with as he was with you? And when you first met this guy, you saw him just disappear before we showed up?"

Alex shook her head. "I didn't see him disappear. He was just gone when I turned back around."

"Well unless he can teleport like me, that sounds awfully suspicious."

"Look, his disappearing act wasn't the important part of the story. It's obvious he must have opened a Bubbledoor." Alex changed the subject slightly, "The more important questions are, who is he and what was he doing here? And why is he so interested in me?"

"Come on, Alex, any guy with eyes would be interested in you," Bear said, scooping up a handful of popcorn that they'd taken from the Rec Room earlier.

Valarie began choking on her own popcorn.

"Excuse me?" Alex laughed.

"Bear's right," Jordan agreed. "He'd have to be blind not to be interested."

Valarie choked again.

Alex felt strangely uncomfortable at the turn in the conversation and had trouble making eye contact with either of her friends. Did they think about her like that? That would be so awkward.

"Okay you two, am I going to have to beat you up for having the hots for my baby sister?" Valarie glared at Jordan and Bear, who both found that the room had suddenly become very warm. Alex's complexion suddenly became very similar to that of a strawberry, blushing at Valarie's treatment of her.

"N-no, of course not!" Jordan stammered.

"Yeah, you guys are like sisters to us!" Bear ensured. Valarie glared for a second more before her expression brightened once.

"Okay!" she chirped, eliciting a sigh of relief from Jordan and Bear. "My next point is; am I not pretty enough to be interested in?"

'Out of the frying pan and into the fire…' Alex thought as she watched the two boys respond to the loaded question.

"Nope," They both said together.

Oh well, it was nice knowing them.

"You're hot, like, really hot." Bear clarified.

"Yeah," Jordan agreed, "Could probably fry an egg on you."

Valarie stared at them for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. Soon, the whole dorm room was laughing at Jordan's ridiculous example.

"Okay, okay, we're getting off track." Valarie reminded as her laughter subsided.

"Well, your mystery man claimed to be alumni, right?" Jordan said. "So we can just look him up in the Archives. Every student who ever attended Akarnae is listed."

Alex jumped to her feet. "Great! Let's go!"

"Hold on their cowgirl," Valarie said, "Curfew has already come and gone, so we won't be going anywhere."

Alex looked out the window into the dark and realised it was later than she'd thought.

Jordan must have noticed the disappointed look on her face because he threw an arm over her shoulders and said, "First chance tomorrow we'll go and have a look at the Archives. Promise."

Stifling an unexpected yawn, Alex nodded. "It's been a long day. We should get to bed."

After saying goodnight to their friends, Valarie and Alex headed up to their own room, which thankfully was D.C.-free. Valarie had a chance meeting with the redhead and somehow now liked her even less. She never did tell Alex or their friends what happened.

Valarie immediately flopped onto her bed, only pausing to take off her sleeveless leather jacket. Alex, on the other hand, changed into her pyjamas and swallowed the medicine in the vials as per Fletcher's instructions, before pulling back her blankets and sliding into bed.

Despite the sisters' exhaustion, they were excited about visiting the mysterious Archives. What little they had heard about the place intrigued them, especially since she knew they could only be reached through the library—which was another place that had fascinated them ever since her first visit with Jordan during their second week at the academy. Valarie had been particularly excited about the but forbidden by Alex to go there by herself because god knows she'll find a way to break the space-time continuum.

Like everything else in Medora, the library was far from what would be called 'normal'. For one thing, it was located underground. Beneath the Tower, to be precise, which at least offered an explanation for the descending staircase in the medieval building.

The stairs led down to a foyer of sorts; a vast room that spread much further than should have been possible lit with flaming torches and a huge chandelier which hung from the centre of the space. Paintings and tapestries decorated the walls, showing notable events, people and places from the course of Medoran history. The strange thing was, those paintings and tapestries changed at randomly timed intervals, which Jordan had claimed was because there was too much history to show for the artwork to remain stationary.

To Alex, it had been one of the weirdest things she'd ever seen. To Valarie, it was simply amazing. They'd been transfixed until Jordan had pulled them into the centre of the room to meet the librarian, a strange little man with mousey hair like a ball of fuzz on the top of his head and spectacles so thick with glass that his eyes goggled owlishly from behind them.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Miss Jennings," the man had said to what they believed to be both of them. "I expected you much sooner than this, thinking you would be teeming with questions about your world and ours."

"Well, Al here didn't let me come on my own. Something about 'global catastrophe' or something." Valarie folded her arms. Alex rolled her eyes before returning them to the librarian.

"How do you know who we are?" she'd asked. "And where we're from?"

He'd blinked at her with his enormous eyes. "I'm the librarian. It's my job to know."

Offering no further answers, he had pulled out a stumpy little cane and led them—at a hobbling pace—to yet another set of stone stairs which spiralled downwards once again. They had opened at the bottom to a massive room, packed full of cascading books.

After showing the Jennings sisters how to use the touch-screen technology to navigate the library's maze-like layout, the librarian had started to walk away, but Jordan had stopped him, claiming he hadn't told Alex about the full extent of the library.

The librarian had looked at Jordan with narrowed eyes for a moment before he'd murmured, "I suppose they of all people should know." He'd then caught Alex's confused gaze and explained, "Legend claims that the library spans over many levels, that it goes deeper than you could possibly fathom, and that each level holds more information than you could ever imagine."

Alex had glanced back at the staircase which had led them into the cavern-like library room, then she had turned to look at Jordan and the librarian quizzically. "But the staircase ends here. It doesn't go any further."

Valarie facepalms. "Hidden entrances, Al. I thought you read Harry Potter."

The librarian nodded to Valarie's comment, but still shrugged dismissively. "But like I said, it's only a legend."

Jordan's response had been to roll his eyes and say, "You don't always use a staircase to get to the lower levels. I'll show you sometime."

And that was all either of them had said on the matter.

Since that day, Alex had frequented the library a number of times each week for study purposes, Valarie tagging along since it was the only time that Alex let her, but they'd yet to venture any further than the main book level. That was all about to change with Jordan's promise of visiting the Archives.

Because the Archives, both Valarie and Alex knew, weren't on the main level.

* * *

They had to wait until their classes finished the next afternoon before visiting the Archives. Unfortunately, none of them had been very discreet about their plans, and Mel and Connor had overheard them talking at lunch. The cousins had invited themselves along, claiming they knew a short-cut—whatever that meant.

When they finally entered the library, Alex wished she'd found a way to dissuade Mel and Connor from joining them, since they hadn't stopped squabbling with each other, and she was starting to get a headache.

"Hurry up, would you!"

"I can't move any faster than this!"

"Then you shouldn't have come!"

"Ha! Like you would even know where to go without me!"

"What are you talking about? I found this place first!"

"No, you didn't! I showed you how to get in!"

Alex sighed and rubbed her temples when they stopped for the fifth time.

"You guys need to keep your voices down if you don't want to get us caught," Jordan said. Despite his cautious words, he was leaning haphazardly against a bookshelf, not caring that he was disobeying rules himself by eating a pastry he'd manage to get by convincing Valarie to teleport them in.

"What's the problem anyway?" Bear asked, stealing the pastry from Jordan and tearing off half of it, handing the rest back. He graciously divided his own portion to share with Alex who smiled at him in gratitude.

Valarie had tuned out the bickering, eating from her own stash of pastries she continued to teleport in whilst she read a book on the creation of various Bubbledoors. This was exactly why Alex didn't let her come here on her own, she'd learn too much for her own, and everybody else's, wellbeing.

"If you hadn't forgotten how to—"

"Me! It was you who said that you'd—"

"Don't blame me for this! I'm the one who—"

They were wasting too much time and drawing too much attention. Alex still wanted to get back to the food court for a quick dinner once they were done, so she decided to intervene.

"Enough!" she said, in a not-so-quiet library voice. She immediately lowered her tone, realising that a few students had stopped what they were doing to stare at them. "Remind me again why we're all here?"

Mel blinked at her. "To visit the Archives. Remember?"

Alex felt the remainder of her patients begin to dissolve. "Not why we're here, but why we're all here. We only need one person to show us how to get down there."

The others all looked at each other before turning to eye the pastry Jordan was still eating. Like clockwork, every one of their stomachs growled as they realised that they could bail on Alex and Valarie and go eat a proper dinner.

All at once, they began to make their excuses.

"I've just remembered—"

"I told Fitzy I'd—"

"I'm supposed to be meeting—"

Valarie sighed, leaning her book down. "No need to spare our feelings, just go get some food."

As they all scampered off before Valarie could change her mind, the only person who had failed to come up with something fast enough was Jordan, who was unable to speak since he'd just taken the last bite of his food when they'd all decided to abandon Alex. He swallowed the considerable mouthful with a grimace and said, quite unconvincingly, "Um, I think I can hear someone calling my name?"

"Nice try Sparker, but there's no medal after bronze," Valarie said as she grabbed his collar before he could ditch them.

He grumbled something about how unfair his life was and pulled her in the opposite direction. "This way."

They followed him around a number of shelves, twisting and turning through numerous aisles before he finally came to a stop. They waited in silence for a few minutes, and the quiet was so uncharacteristic of Jordan that Alex began to worry he was annoyed at having to stay back with her. When she finally looked up at him, she didn't find the frustrated expression she expected. On the contrary, it seemed like he was fighting a grin.

"What—?" She jumped and only just managed to bite her tongue on a squeal when a hand came to rest on her shoulder a second before Bear stepped into view.

"Took you long enough, mate!" Jordan said, laughing at Alex's shock along with Valarie.

"I had to make sure they didn't follow me," Bear explained. "I actually had to go with them to the food court before doubling back."

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked, confused by his presence.

Bear looked at Jordan. "You didn't tell them?"

Jordan laughed again. "Nah. I was having too much fun watching them worry about whether I was mad at her for missing dinner."

Alex's mouth dropped. "I was not!"

"I would have made you stay behind even if you were first away," Valarie smirked at Jordan.

Jordan's shoulders slumped as he scowled at Valarie. "You're a horrible person," He said.

"In case you've forgotten Sparks; I feed off the suffering of others. Particularly you." She grinned and poked his nose. Bear and Alex laughed at Jordan's expense as he rolled his eyes, fighting back a smile.

"Gee, I'm so grateful."

"That's what friends are for." She smiled."

"They're also great at sneaking into hidden levels of the library!" Bear interrupted. "We only have a couple of hours left before curfew, so we should get moving."

"Right," Jordan agreed. "What we need is around here somewhere…"

As Jordan thumbed through the collection of books on the shelf closest to them, Alex turned to Bear and asked, "I'm still not sure why you had to make sure Connor and Mel didn't follow you back?"

"Because where we're going is secret," Bear replied.

"But they said they knew where the Archives are."

Jordan snorted while he continued looking through the books. "Everyone knows where the Archives are. They're the most non-secret secret ever."

"Well, then how is it even a secret? And why can't they come?" Valarie voiced what Alex was thinking

"You'll see," Bear said, a smile on his face.

Before she could object, Jordan interrupted. "Now pay attention because you'll need to remember this for next time."

He pointed at the book he'd located on the shelf and Alex read the title out loud. "The Encyclopedia of Current Events? That doesn't make sense," she said. "How can current events be written in an encyclopedia? They'd be out-dated by the time it was published!"

Jordan ignored her and said, "Pull out the book."

She looked at it with mistrust. "This isn't going to be one of those totally clichéd pull-out-the-book-and-a-trapdoor-will-appear deals, is it?"

Jordan rolled his eyes. "Just pull out the book already."

Alex reached for it, her muscles tense and ready to react. She clasped her hand around the spine and took a deep breath, quickly yanking the book off the shelf.

Nothing happened.

Jordan Valarie and Bear burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" she told them. She couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from twitching though, and she easily gave in to her own laughter. "All right, all right," she said, trying to regain her dignity. She looked at the book in her hands and flicked through the pages. "Now, seriously, how do we—" Before she could finish her question, the floor disappeared under her feet, leaving her to slide down a chute in complete darkness.

"JORDAAAAN!" she screamed as she slid faster and faster. "BEAAAAAR! VALARIEEEEEE!"

Echoing laughter drifted down from above, along with a faint "Wheeeeeeee!"

Before she could scream at them again, the slide began to level out and she slowly came to a stop in a well-lit room. There was a flaming torch mounted on the wall beside a sealed wooden door, but otherwise, the chamber was empty.

Alex's head was spinning but she didn't want to get trampled by her friends, so she quickly got to her feet and steadied herself against the nearest wall. A moment later the still-laughing Jordan slid into view, and Alex didn't hesitate before hitting him with the heavy encyclopedia she was still holding. He only laughed harder, and when she went to attack him again, he reached out and trapped her hands. It was only then that she realised he was holding a book too. She squinted at the cover, making out the title: The Encyclopedia of Current Events.

"What—?"

"Wheeeeeeee!"

Bear came sliding down the chute, effectively interrupting her question. Jordan quickly stumbled to his feet to make way for their friend.

"What a ride!" Bear said, and he laughed as he took in Alex's harried expression.

"You could have warned me!" she said to them. A second later Valarie had joined them.

"Ha-ha! That was great! You see, this is why libraries are great!"

"Well said!" Bear agreed.

"You'd already guessed about the 'clichéd trapdoor'," Jordan said to Alex, repeating her words with a smirk. "What was the point in warning you when you'd already figured it all out?"

Alex chose to ignore him and turned her attention to Bear just as he was getting to his feet. She noticed that he was also carrying an encyclopedia, and so was Valarie.

"What's with the books?" she asked.

"C'mon Al," Valarie spoke, "You didn't think this was a one-way trip, did ya?"

Alex shivered slightly at the idea. "But why are there now four of them?"

"It's also the ticket out of here," Bear answered. "We each need our own because the books activate a single-use Bubbledoor that goes from this level back up again."

Alex's mouth opened in an 'O' shape before her curiosity took over once again. "But there was only one copy on the shelf. Where did your copies come from?"

Both boys just looked at each other and shrugged.

"No idea," Bear said. "That's just the library for you."

"And you guys still say there isn't any magic." Valarie laughed.

"Let's go see these Archives, yeah?" Jordan said, walking over to the sealed wooden door and motioning for them to come closer. "Open your book to page seventy-four and press it against the door."

Alex did as he instructed and waited for the door to open. As the seconds ticked by, she wondered why it was taking so long. Maybe she'd opened the wrong page? She double-checked and tried again.

Still nothing. No movement. No noise. No indication whatsoever that the door was preparing to open.

Alex looked up to see a purple-faced Jordan who, at that moment, finally released the laughter that he'd been holding in. Valarie and Bear quickly joined him. They'd tricked her—again.

"Why don't you guys ever do this to Valarie?" Alex scowled.

"Because 1," Bear answered, "She's not as gullible and two…" he glanced over to the girl in question, "I honestly fear what would happen if we did."

Valarie smiled with hands on her hips. "I try my best~"

"Well, how do we open the door then?" Alex asked.

"Did you think to try knocking?"

Alex wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. She didn't want to fall for another prank, but before she even had the chance to decide what to do, Bear reached around her and rapped his knuckles three times on the wooden surface. The latch clicked softly, and the door opened wide enough for her to see into the room beyond.

"Wow."

In all honesty, the room itself wasn't that impressive. It was just like stepping into a computer lab, with independent cubicles and comfortable-looking chairs facing touch-screen panels. The space was large, but certainly not as large as the entire level of the Tower they were under.

The reason Alex was so shocked was due to the number of people in the room. She took in the faces—most of the adults—and asked the obvious question: "If this place is so secret, how do so many people know about it?"

"Like Jordan said before, 'secret' is a bit of an overstatement," Bear said. "We're not really sure what the secret is—whether it's how to get down here, or the fact that there's a here to get down to. Either way, most people know about the Archives, and if they don't, it's a good bet that someone they know can tell them."

"It just seems weird that the librarian acted so strangely about the 'legend' of the library if everyone knows about it," Alex murmured.

"Truth is, not many people know about the entrance we took, as far as I'm aware," Jordan said. "That's another reason we wanted to get rid of Connor and Mel—just in case they didn't actually know. It's not something we're supposed to share, strictly speaking."

"So I assume these people took the other entrances?" Valarie questioned.

"Yyyyep," Bear replied simply.

"Very few people actually know that the Archives are in fact part of Akarnae's library," Jordan told them. "Any other students who have used the entrance we took would most likely believe the encyclopedia acts just like the other access points. But we know differently—we're still underneath the Tower."

"And how do you know?" Alex asked.

"We'll show you later," Bear promised.

"Come on," Jordan said, stopping her from questioning them further. "Let's get this search for your disappearing stranger out of the way."

After making sure Alex understood what she was doing, the other three took off to give her some quiet research time. Jordan and Bear dragged Valarie around for a little while, explained how they were going to prank Alex next, and then let her continue reading her book until it was time to show Alex the following surprise.


	6. Ink & Paper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who remembers Valarie’s tattoo?

“You’ve been here long enough, Bookworm. It’s time for some fun.”

Alex looked up at her friends’ expectant faces, before replying, “But I haven’t found anything yet!”

“Too bad so sad,” Valarie said as she hauled her sister up from her seat. “Creepy Creeper isn’t going anywhere, plus, Tweedle-dee and Tweedledum want to show us something.”

Alex laughed at Valarie’s nicknames and allowed herself to be lead away.

“Now, in the future when you come down here, to get out again you just have to go back into the room with the slide, open the encyclopedia to the last page, and press your hand to the paper,” Bear explained. “You’ll see a door appear in the wall and when you go through it you’ll find a Bubbledoor that’ll take you straight back to where you first picked up the encyclopedia—which will also disappear during transport, by the way.”

“Why are you telling me and not showing me?” Alex asked

“Because we’re not leaving that way,” Jordan answered with an excited gleam in his eyes. Alex looked to Valarie who responded with a shrug.

The Archives had cleared out significantly of people in the hours that she’d been researching, but there were still a few stragglers lingering around. Because of this, Alex wasn’t completely surprised when Jordan and Bear led Valarie and herself towards a corner at the back of the room that was out of sight.

“Have a seat here and we’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Bear said.

The moment Alex’s backside touched the ground, she was airborne. It was a completely unexpected sensation, especially since she was moving upwards, and at an incredibly fast speed.

Alex gasped and glanced down to find that she was still sitting on the floor, but only a square metre of it which was acting as her express elevator—‘express’ being the keyword.

She didn’t even have time to scream before she slammed into the ceiling.

* * *

I’m dead, Alex thought. Squashed like a cockroach. What a way to go.

Only, she wasn’t squashed. And she wasn’t moving upwards anymore, either.

Alex opened her eyes—not even sure when she’d closed them—and carefully looked around. She was sitting on the floor still, but the Archive terminals were nowhere in sight.

She realised that she must be on another level of the library, and she hurried to move off the ground in case her friends came up after her. The instant she moved aside, the square metre of elevator floor vanished into thin air and Bear was propelled into view.

He grinned at her.

She glared at him.

Then the floor disappeared again, causing Bear to scramble quickly to the side.

“That is such a safety hazard,” Alex mumbled as Jordan appeared on his own carpet square.

“Nothing to it,” Jordan said, standing and brushing off invisible dirt, stepping aside as Valarie joined them.

“Feel free to tell me the next time something like that’s about to happen,” Alex said pointedly.

Jordan and Bear looked at each other and chorused: “We told Valarie.”

Alex turned to her sister who had a smug look on her face. “Enjoy the surprise?” she asked.

“You three will be the death of me.” Alex sighed.

“Not if I can help it!” Valarie laughed as she put an arm around Alex, “I wouldn’t have nearly as much fun if you weren’t around!”

“Thanks for thinking so much of me.” Alex deadpanned. “Where are we?”

“Another level of the library,” Bear answered.

Alex sent him a look. “Obviously.”

He chuckled and added, “Another secret level, I should say. One we doubt many people know about. It’s how we realised the Archives are part of the library itself, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a way to get in here. Pretty clever, really.”

Jordan was nodding in agreement. “We found the entrance in our first year, completely by mistake. It was a busy day in the Archives and there was a queue of people lining up to access the TCD panels. So we walked over to the corner to get out of the way and sat down to wait.”

“I still remember the look on Jordan’s face when he flew into the air,” Bear said, smiling at the memory. “Absolutely priceless.”

“Of course, Bear followed straight after me,” Jordan added. “Even with the forewarning, he was still green-faced when he crashed into me.”

“He crashed into you?” Valarie raised an eyebrow, “I would have paid to see that.”

“I hadn’t moved off the entry square since I was a bit, uh… dazed by the experience,” Jordan rubbed the back of his head. “So, really it was me who crashed into him, since the floor disappeared with me still on it. Luckily there wasn’t far to fall because the squares move so fast. It was more of a smack in the face than a crash, but whatever.”

Hearing his words, Alex was glad she’d thought to move off the square before it had disappeared under her. Rather than linger on what might have happened, she spun around and squinted into the darkened room. “There’s nothing in here.”

The only light source came from two flaming torches, one on a bracket near where they were standing and another on the other side of the room. Both flames were bright enough to illuminate most of the large space, but there wasn’t anything to see.

“Are you sure?” Bear asked.

She looked around again, squinting into the firelight. But nope, still nothing. The only thing that was even slightly out of place in the room was the carpeted floor. It was patterned into different coloured squares, each about the same size as the express elevator floor.

Alex felt her stomach tighten with unease as she looked down. She was standing on a wooden square, which was odd since the rest of the floor was carpeted. No, that wasn’t quite right, she realised. A number of the squares around the room were also wooden, including the ones that Valarie, Jordan and Bear both stood on. In fact, all the squares directly beside the area they’d entered from were wooden, along with a few others splattered across the floor at random intervals.

“We call this the hopscotch room,” Jordan said. “We come here when we’re bored.”

“Hopscotch?”

“Of death!” Valarie chanted.

“No.” Jordan and Bear responded quickly.

“Pff,” Valarie waved a hand, “It sounded pretty deadly when you explained it to me.”

“Wait, you already told her about this?!” Alex exclaimed.

He nodded. “It took us a long time to figure out how the room works and how to get across it—”

Bear mumbled something into his hand that sounded suspiciously like, “Without serious injury,” and Alex glanced between him and Valarie sharply.

“—But we managed to work it out,” Jordan continued loudly, ignoring Bear’s interruption. “We had to, since the only safe exit is over there and there’s no other way out.” He pointed to the flaming torch on the other side of the room.

Alex gulped. It was a lot further away than she’d originally thought. And she didn’t even want to know why he had used the word ‘safe’ before ‘exit’. Were there unsafe exits?

“What’s with the floor?” she asked.

“Wooden spaces are safe,” Jordan explained, tapping his foot on the floor he was standing on. “Grey carpet takes off upwards into the air and vanishes within five seconds.”

Alex realised that they’d all arrived on the grey-coloured carpet, which explained why the floor had vanished before the next person’s arrival.

“Blue carpet is okay to stand on if you have no other choice,” Jordan continued, “but your body goes numb if you stay there for too long. The black carpet isn’t actually carpet at all—it’s just empty space, so avoid those squares.”

“What happens if you fall down one of them?” she asked.

Jordan just looked at her. “Don’t.”

Bear noticed her expression and said, “We dropped a torch down one once. It just kept going and going until we couldn’t see the light anymore.”

“Right,” she said, feeling slightly ill. “Avoid the black squares. Got it.”

They nodded at her.

She looked at the floor again and realised that there was one colour left. “What about the red carpet?”

She received a response in the form of Valarie creating a head-sized rock and teleporting it a few metres above a red square a good distance away from them. As soon as it came in contact with the square, it was engulfed in an explosion that perfectly encompassed the square.

Alex paled and looked to Valarie how had the biggest grin on her face.

“You’re all crazy.”

“You think I’d be here if I wasn’t?” Valarie asked her.

“It’s a piece of cake,” Jordan promised. “You’ll love it.”

“Yeah,” Bear agreed. “And besides, the red squares aren’t the problem. The real challenge is that all the squares change colour.”

Alex gaped at them before turning her attention back to the floor. Sure enough, within a few seconds, a number of the squares changed colours. They pulsed for three warning beats before the change took place. One red square became grey, while another red square turned to wood. A black square turned red, while a blue square turned black.

There was no sequence or order to the colour changes—they were completely random. And there didn’t seem to be a set time, either. Some of the squares changed within seconds; others weren’t changing at all.

It was a death-trap, but according to her friends, it was also the only way out of the room.

“Valarie was right. This is hopscotch of death…” Alex mumbled. “All right then, let’s do this,” she said, causing the others to cheer excitedly.

“I’ll go first, then you follow me, Alex, exactly where I step. Bear will come behind you and Valarie behind him so she can get us out if we’re in trouble.” Jordan said. “And remember, only one person on a square at a time.”

She hadn’t been told that before. “Why?”

Jordan grimaced and said, “They’re kind of… booby-trapped.”

“Booby-trapped,” she repeated, deadpanned.

He looked at her innocently and shrugged as if to say it wasn’t his fault.

“You know what?” Alex muttered. “I don’t even want to know how you know that.”

Jordan’s smile widened when he realised she wasn’t going to yell at him. “Ready, then?”

He took her terse nod as an affirmative and turned his attention to the square closest to him, waiting for it to change from black to a safer colour. The moment it became a wooden surface, he jumped.

I can’t believe I’m about to do this, Alex thought, as Jordan moved to the next square over, leaving her to jump after him.

The first jump was the hardest, but it became easier after that. She continued following Jordan around the room, only glancing back occasionally to make sure Bear was still following them. Both boys frequently asked how she was doing, but she was so focused on not tripping onto the dangerous squares that she couldn’t say much more than “fine” or “still here” or “I’m going to kill you later” without losing her concentration.

The further they travelled across the room, the more her confidence grew. It really wasn’t so hard. In fact, she could almost understand the thrill that both Jordan and Bear seemed to get from the experience. God, she hoped she wasn’t turning in to Valarie, she wouldn’t survive that lifestyle. Regardless, Alex still felt a distinct sense of accomplishment every time she narrowly avoided a dangerous square or made a particularly impressive jump onto a safe one. It was… exhilarating.

“Still with us back there?” Jordan called, glancing over his shoulder.

Seriously? Where else would she be? Alex looked down at the ominous black square to her left and realised that perhaps he wasn’t enquiring just to annoy her. She felt tingly all over as she looked into the empty space.

“Yeah, I’m still—” Alex broke off when she realised that something wasn’t right, since her tingly feeling was escalating. Glancing down, she saw that the wooden square she’d been standing on had changed to blue. She hadn’t even noticed it pulsing, but now her legs were quickly turning numb.

“Jordan, move!” she called, hurrying him along.

“I can’t—I’m boxed in!”

She looked ahead. Sure enough, all the squares around his safe wooden one were either black or red. He wouldn’t be moving on until they changed colour, and none of them were pulsing yet.

“Alex,” Bear called urgently from behind her. “Move to your right.”

“But I—”

“DO IT ALEX!” Valarie yelled at her.

Trusting them, Alex jumped awkwardly off her square just as it turned a dangerous red colour. Her semi-numb legs almost sent her careening right over the other side of the new floor, but she managed to balance herself just in time. Unfortunately, she’d landed on another blue square, increasing her discomfort. The space diagonally opposite her was wooden so she leapt for it, but her wobbly legs couldn’t hold the landing this time and her momentum carried her onto the next piece of carpet.

Jordan and Bear screamed out her name as her numb body fell onto the grey surface. She was instantly airborne, clinging on for dear life and flying upwards at a devastating speed. She felt a pulse next to her and Valarie was there, grabbing a hold of her and scanning the room for a safe place to teleport back.

‘Five seconds,’ she willed her brain to comprehend. ‘We’ve only got five seconds before it disappears, and we’ll fall.’

The realisation shocked her body to respond and her adrenaline to kick in, pumping blood to her numb extremities. She didn’t have time to think about anything but survival as she pushed herself up and threw herself and a shocked Valarie over the side of the carpet, just as it disappeared beneath her.

It was remarkable how high she’d been tossed in only a few seconds. And it was just as remarkable how quickly she fell. She couldn’t bring herself to scream as the patterned floor moved closer and closer, Valarie still clinging to her tightly. Irrationally, she worried about which square she would land on, before realising that it wouldn’t matter since she was about to become like a bug on a windscreen.

She had only a moment to glimpse the horrified expressions on her friends’ faces as the floor rose to meet her.

“ALEX!”

“VALARIE!”

Alex never heard the crunch of their bodies slamming against the ground. Nor did she feel the accompanying agony. She was surprised, really, to learn that dying would be so quick and painless.

But then a new kind of surprise filled her when she realised that the reason she didn’t feel any pain was that she hadn’t hit the ground. She was still falling.

Only then did Alex scream, as she and her sister both plummeted down the black square and into the darkness below.

* * *

“She wove him a hat made from a melody

He wondered how to fix his calamity

If she’d known how to sing

He’d have worn it with a grin

But instead, he preferred it a parody.”

Valarie blinked out the darkness that enshrouded her when she and Alex fell, making out the quiet voice of someone singing.

“She sewed him some socks made from a happenstance

He wondered why they looked just like his pants

If she’d known how to sew

He’d have worn them with a bow

But instead, he hoped she’d ignore their absence.”

Unable to muster the energy to sit up, Valarie sat there and listened to the nice melody.

“She knitted a coat made from a memory

He wondered about her sense of propriety

If she’d known how to knit

He’d have worn it in a jiff

But instead, he worried about atrophy.”

‘That was a nice song.’ Valarie thought, ‘I bet Alex would just think it was weird. Wait…’

“ALEX! Valarie yelled as she shot straight up.

“Ngh… right here…” A groan came from beside her, revealing Alex laying down next to her.

“So you’re finally awake, my little friends?” the voice singing the song asked them.

“Seems like it,” Valarie answered ash she stood up, leaving Alex still laying on the ground.

The voice chuckled lightly. “Come now, you’ll feel much better once you’ve had something to eat.”

Upon hearing the possibility of food, Alex stirred and sat up on the couch she was on.

“Where are we?” Alex asked, sitting up to look around the room. Flaming torches illuminated overflowing bookshelves that lined the room, and there was a single wooden desk wedged in the corner. Seated behind the desk was a man facing away from her. He was writing with an old-fashioned calligraphy quill, feather and all. “And who are you?” she added, when the man didn’t answer her immediately.

“Just a moment, please,” the man asked them. A candle on the desk flickered shadows over the side of his face when he turned slightly in her direction. His short, silvery-grey hair—the only feature she could distinguish from her angle—glowed with the light of the flame.

The man continued scribbling for another minute before he signed off with a flourish and placed his feathered pen on the desk. When he turned around, the first thing Valarie noticed was his intelligent grey eyes followed closely by his kind smile.

“Thank you for your patience, Alexandra, Valarie,” he said. “How are you both feeling?”

“Bit headachey,” Valarie answered, “But other than that, I’m fine.”

“Confused,” Alex said, before hastily adding, “Sir.”

The man laughed. It was a pleasant sound, deep and hearty. The noise filled her with warmth. “No need to call me sir, my dear. My name is Darrius.”

Valarie smiled. “Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Darrius.” She formally greeted while shaking his hand.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Alex piped up, “But how did we get here?”

“You fell,” Darrius answered.

Well, that adds up. They were falling after all.

“And how did we land?” she clarified. “Without dying?”

“C’mon Al,” Valarie folded her arms, “A little fall isn’t enough to kill me.”

“I beg to differ.”

“As to your first question,” Darrius cleared his throat, getting the sisters’ attention, “you landed head-first, which really was unfortunate. But no matter, a little bump on the head won’t cause you discomfort for too long.”

“As for your second question,” he continued, “why would you have died?”

“Uh… maybe because of how far I fell?” Alex said. Darrius just looked at her, so she added, “It was a long way! Like, flatten-into-a-pancake long way.”

“I could have slowed our descent.” Valarie reminded.

“Well did you?” Alex asked, eyes trained on Valarie, who’s eyes darted around the room.

“Uhh…”

“The Library is full of wonders,” Darrius interrupted. “No one alive knows all of its secrets.”

“We’re still in the library?” Alex asked, gobsmacked. “How deep down are we?”

“Come and see for yourself,” he offered, motioning for her to follow him over to a curtain. When the sisters got to the window and parted the curtains, Alex gasped, and Valarie grinned.

“This is why I love this place,” Valarie stated giddily.

Clouds. That was all they could see. Fluffy white clouds in a cornflower blue sky that seemed to just, go on forever.

Valarie felt Alex lean on her, her feet stumbling slightly. Valarie put a hand around her and lead her back to the couch when Darrius beaconed them. Darrius then walked over to the wall beside one of the bookshelves and tapped on a remote TCD. Within seconds he was pushing a bowl of soup into Alex’s hands, a few moments later, and Valarie had a slice of cheesecake.

“Eat,” he said gently, patting her shaking hand. “Then we’ll talk.”

Alex nodded, picking up the spoon. Valarie did the same with her fork, digging in tot the, rather nice, cheesecake. She looked to Alex who was slurping down her soup, a look of worry growing on her face.

‘She must be thinking about Jordan and Bear,’ Valarie thought, ‘I would be to, but I kind of want to see where this goes.’

Alex then glanced around then glanced around the room, as if expecting their two friends to appear at any moment. Valarie tentatively put a hand on her shoulder, consoling her. Alex breathed a sigh and put her own hand on top of Valarie’s, giving a weak smile.

“Better?” Darrius asked.

“Much. Thank you.” Alex replied, more referring to Valarie’s company than the soup. Alex then gathered her thoughts before saying; “So, we fell, right? And I landed on my head?” Darrius nodded. “But where did we land geographically speaking? If we’re still in the library, how come we’re, like, hundreds of storeys up in the air?”

He smiled as if he approved of her question. “As I said, the Library has many secrets. This one, however, I believe it will allow me to share with you. Hot chocolate?”

“Ooh!” Valarie clapped her hands, “Yes please!”

Only after Darrius had ordered their drinks from the TCD and sat back down again did he speak. “The Library was constructed before the beginning of time—or at least, time as we understand it. We don’t know how it was built, nor do we know who it was built by or even who it was built for. We don’t even know the exact date it was discovered. What we do know is that for hundreds of years, kingdoms and empires alike sought to lay claim to this marvellous archaeological structure.

History refers to the Library as ‘The Jewel of Medora’. It rose higher than the heavens and could be seen from a great distance in any direction. Its rooms held unimaginable wealth not only in the form of knowledge and wisdom but material riches as well. For this reason, battles waged unceasingly for its ownership until even the soil was stained by blood.

“Those were dark and gloomy days. People fought for what they desired but could never truly attain. Ultimately, their greed was rewarded by death and destruction.

“The Library wasn’t an object to be claimed, but a haven for all to share and use. Having witnessed so much pain and suffering, it decided that the knowledge stored within was too great for mankind to be entrusted with since all we were capable of was seeking our own ruin. Knowledge is power, and to be human is to desire power. So the Library made a decision.

“Battle-weary and bone-tired, the newest round of combatants were nursing their injuries and burying their dead after a hard day of conflict when suddenly the ground started trembling. Those standing were brought to their knees as the earth shook around them. Gale-force winds stripped trees of their leaves and filled the air with debris. No one could see anything in the chaos and confusion, nor could they hear anything above the deafening roar.

“But then, just as suddenly as it started, so too did it end. It was only when the dust cleared that they bore witness to a truly inexplicable sight. The magnificent Library was no more.”

Alex waited impatiently while he drained the last of his drink. “Then what happened?” she prompted, sitting on the edge of her seat next to the starry-eyed Valarie.

“Well, without a Library to fight over, there was no more reason for the bloodshed,” Darrius told them. “The armies retreated, and the soldiers were sent home. The loss of the Library was a cause for mourning—so much knowledge and treasure had been lost—but many secretly rejoiced over its disappearance. In fact, we now commemorate the event with an annual holiday, one which we’ll be celebrating in only a few weeks from now, called Kaldoras. Loosely translated, it means ‘peace’.

“Over time, most people have forgotten the true reason for the holiday, and it has become much more commercial in nature, as is the way of events such as this. Kaldoras is now hailed as an excuse for gift-giving and feasting with loved ones, but the real origin of the celebrations is because, after the Library’s disappearance, peace came to the lands for the first time in generations.”

“Huh. So Medora has Christmas.” Valarie commented.

Darrius smiled. “Yes, I suppose we do. Now,” he continued, “around the time of the Library’s disappearance, a young Meyarin by the name of Eanraka founded a school for what he referred to as the ‘gifted’. He invited those whom he believed to have special talents to come and learn in an environment that would train them to the best of their abilities. But ultimately he was just one person, even if he was a Meyarin, and he was soon overwhelmed by challenges. He thought of abandoning his school until one day the answer to his problems literally appeared before him. Eanraka was walking towards his office when he tripped down a staircase he’d never seen before and found himself in an immense underground room.”

Darrius smiled again, “You can see where the story is going, no doubt. The room he stumbled upon was the foyer of the great Library. From that day forward the Library was once again in a place where people could share in its knowledge. No longer the Jewel of Medora, the Library now rests unseen except by those whom it considers worthy.”

“But… doesn’t everyone know that the library is at Akarnae?” Alex asked. “Students have come and gone for years since then.”

“You’re quite right that the general population understands that there is a library of quality at the academy, but very few realise it is the Library of legend. It doesn’t reveal its secrets to just anyone, you know.”

“And that’s another thing,” Alex said. “You said the library didn’t like all the fighting and made the decision to disappear… But, Darrius, it’s a library. A building. Why do you keep talking about it as if it’s a person? I can practically hear you capitalise it. You have to know that’s weird, right?”

“Alex!” Valarie exclaimed, mock-offended, “How could you say something like that about this wonderful place!”

“It’s a library, Val. A building, it can’t think.”

“Shh, ignore her,” Valarie said to the couch, petting it. “You’re magical and I love you.”

“It is much more than a person or any magic” Darrius answered Alex’s question cryptically. “I can’t explain what I don’t understand, but all I know is that the Library is, for lack of a better word, alive. And it seems to like you. Both of you. Very few people over the course of history have been Chosen to bear its secrets. No doubt you’re going to have some interesting times ahead of you.”

Valarie fist-pumped as Alex looked at him with wide eyes.

“There’s something else I should warn you about,” Darrius continued, “As you’ve likely gathered from the adventure which led you here, the Library isn’t merely a building for storing books and resources. Knowledge and wisdom come from experiences and challenges, adversity and even failure. The rooms you may encounter won’t be at all like what you’d expect to find in a normal library. But if you so desire, you’ll learn more than you could possibly imagine as you explore its secrets.”

If the other rooms he referred to were anything like the hopscotch room, then Valarie was all for it. But at the same time, she worried for Alex, she never wanted this magical destiny crap. Just a normal life.

“Can we tell our friends about all this?” Alex asked, knowing she probably would anyway.

“I think those who showed you the chequered room can share in your knowledge since they must have been trusted enough to unlock some of the Library’s secrets. But that doesn’t mean they’ll always be able to accompany you wherever you go. Their access will likely be much more limited than your own. As for anyone else, you should hide your knowledge of the Library’s existence—partly for your own safety.”

“Does anybody know of the library’s full capabilities?” Valarie asked, “Or, at least, does anybody else know that this is the Library?”

“I doubt that anybody knows just exactly what the extent of the library can do. But for those who know this is actually the library of legend, well, other than me only a very few. From what I’ve heard, all current and previous headmasters of Akarnae are made aware of the Library’s existence, but they don’t necessarily have access to all of its secrets.”

“But we’re not headmasters!” Alex exclaimed.

Darrius chuckled. “No, you’re not. But the Library may choose to reveal itself to anybody who it believes worthy. You’ve been chosen. You should feel honoured.”

“I sure feel honoured,” Valarie smiled, “I feel like it’s something I’ve waited for my whole life, but never knew I was waiting for.”

Alex wasn’t sure what she felt, so she asked another question. “The guy who opened the academy all those years ago—Eanraka, right? As in, ‘Akarnae’ spelt backwards? Seriously, he couldn’t think of anything more creative?”

When Darrius didn’t respond, she cleared her throat awkwardly. “Anyway… You said he was a—a Meyarin? What is that?”

Darrius looked deep into her eyes and answered, “Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t have heard of them yet. Their existence is not openly discussed these days.”

Before Alex could say anything more, Darrius stood and walked over to his bookcase. “I’m familiar with some of the literature from your world,” he said as he rifled through the titles, “and as best as I can compare, you would understand those from Meya to be called ‘elves’ or ‘fair folk’, though no such translation exists here.”

“Okay, but you’ll need to clarify on that,” Valarie told Darrius, “Because Freya interprets elves in different ways. Are we talking about little goblinoid elves, or majestic high-fantasy elves?”

“They are simply those who have existed from the beginning.” Darrius answered “They are immortal beings, often referred to as ‘the graced ones’. They can be killed just like any other creature, but if left alone they’ll live forever, since their bodies are immune to illness and decay.”

“Majestic high-fantasy elves it is,” Valarie commented.

“Their race is unlike any other. They are beautiful to behold and blessed with inhuman strength, speed, agility and intellect. They can be either your greatest ally and most trusted companion, or your worst enemy and most treacherous adversary.”

All of this was all a bit too much for Alex. “Are you telling me that you have elves here? Because I don’t know what ‘literature’ you’ve read, but the only books that have elves in them are works of fiction. Elves aren’t real.”

Valarie facepalmed at Alex’s words. ‘How many times do I have to remind her we’re in another world?!’

She paused before adding, “And for that matter, how do you know we’re from another world? Or even what our names are?”

Darrius didn’t answer immediately, causing Alex to start to rise nervously from her seat. But then he let out a quiet, “Ah-ha!” and pulled a book from the shelf, turning back to her. “Sit down, Alexandra. You have no reason to fear me,” he said distractedly as he flicked through the pages. “I know who you are and where you’ve come from because the Library told me.”

He walked over to his desk and absentmindedly picked up a piece of paper which he passed to her.

**Alexandra Jennings: third year transfer student, originally from Freya.**

**Valarie Jennings: third year transfer student, originally from Freya. Valkyrie.**

“Who wrote this?” Alex said, staring in awe at the ancient-looking calligraphy. As she watched, the page wiped clean before more words appeared.

**Is it so hard to believe in a sentient Library?**

She gaped at the page as another sentence appeared before it was wiped clean as well:

**Embrace the wonder.**

“Ha-ha! I knew you were magic!” Valarie exclaimed.

**I am far more than magic, little bird.**

“Well, regardless I am sorry for my sister to call you not living.”

**All is forgiven.**

Darrius either didn’t notice Alex shocked expression as Valarie talked with the piece of paper, or he ignored it to answer her question. “I believe it’s one of the secrets of the Library that’s too difficult for us mere mortals to understand. I learned long ago that some things are meant to remain a mystery.”

Alex had no choice but to accept his answer, as Valarie placed the now-blank paper to the side, where it immediately vanished.

“Now, where were we?” Darrius asked. “I think you were talking about your ‘elves’ not being real. And yes, I’m aware that’s true where you’re from. But history is different here.”

“Just like I keep telling her,” Valarie said to Darrius, Alex scowling at her.

Darrius then laid the book he’d found out in front of them, motioning to take a look. The page was already open, and the writing was in a language neither had ever seen before, but it was the picture that he clearly intended to show. There were two people, one male and one female, standing in a forest clearing with the moonlight streaming down on them. Even in a two-dimensional portrait, they seemed to jump out of the page and demand her attention. They were both so hypnotically beautiful that neither Valarie nor Alex could have looked away.

“As you can see, they paint quite an enchanting picture,” Darrius said, closing the book and moving to place it back on the shelf, shaking the girls out of their trance.

“What happened to them?” Alex asked.

“No one really knows,” Darrius answered. “One day they were amongst us, the next they weren’t. Their city, Meya, and its surrounding forests just vanished into thin air, along with their entire race. It’s one of our greatest mysteries, and while there are many theories, no human knows the complete truth of what happened.”

“I presume this was not a recent event?” Valarie questioned

Darrius thought for a moment. “History isn’t so clear on that account. Thousands of years ago, at the very least. I would estimate the time to be perhaps a few hundred years after Eanraka discovered the Library. That’s not so great a time considering the Meyarin lifespan.”

Alex let that sink in and said, “Okay, I think I’ve had all the history I can take for, oh, the next five years.” He chuckled and she continued, “But thanks, Darrius, for answering my questions.”

“Anytime, dear child, anytime.” He paused, glancing to Valarie. “Before you go, there is one thing I must ask.”

“Shoot,” Valarie agreed.

“Where did you get that symbol on your arm?”

Valarie and Alex froze to the spot. Both slowly glanced down to Valarie’s tattoo, still a four-pointed star inside of a circle.

“I-I’ve had it since I was born…” Valarie answered.

“Oh, interesting. It’s just that, I believe I’ve seen that same symbol before…”

“WHAT! WHERE?!” Valarie shot up.

“Calm down, I know I have seen it somewhere, but I do not exactly remember where…” Darrius mused. Valarie wilted. Darrius smiled. “How about this; I will see what I can find, and the next time that we meet, I will show you.”

Valarie brightened a bit at the prospect of learning something about her mysterious marking.

Alex put a hand on Valarie’s shoulder and smiled at her, who returned with a smile of her own. “So,” Alex then said, “the million-dollar question: what happens now?”

He tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we can’t stay here forever,” she stated. “How do we get back to the, well, ground?”

“That’s simple,” Darrius answered. “The same way you arrived.”

Valarie blinked. “That makes sense.”

“Wait didn’t we fall here?” Alex looked apprehensively at Valarie.

“You did,” Darrius replied. Seeing her expression, he added, “Is there a problem?”

“None whatsoever.”

“Actually, no, I’d say there’s a slight problem,” Alex said, gesturing towards the window. “A slight, very big problem”

“I don’t make the rules, Alexandra,” Darrius said with an apologetic shrug. “You asked me how to get out, and I answered you. It’s your choice whether or not you follow my advice.”

“How about some different advice?” she asked. “Like the kind that doesn’t involve falling to certain death?”

“I’m afraid I have no other options for you.”

He didn’t look afraid. In fact, he seemed completely at ease. Not to mention completely serious.

“You’re mad,” she said without thinking.

“Well so am I,” Valarie said, grabbing her hand. “Darrius, it’s been a pleasure.

“As I should hope.” He responded.

“Valarie wai…” Alex never finished her sentence as Valarie teleported them out the window, causing them to plummet into the sky below.

Alex screamed again whilst Valarie laughed.

* * *

After falling for what seemed to be forever, the Jennings sisters’ descent finally began to slow down. Their eyes shut tight to stop the wind from getting in them, the slowly cracked them open to see where exactly they had landed, only to hear the most peculiar thing, something they had heard before.

“ALEX!”

“VALARIE!”

Valarie looked quickly at their surroundings. They were both back in the hopscotch room, or as they now knew it, the chequered room. Each of the standing atop a wooden square. Jordan and Bear were standing in the middle of the room, both looking horror-stricken as they stared down into a black square on the floor.

Three squares simultaneously changed colour and they were able to jump closer to one another and yet still stay near the black square. Jordan looked as if he was about to jump straight down the square, but Bear’s arm latched onto him and held him back.

“Let me go!” Jordan cried. “We have to do something!”

“I know that!” Bear yelled back. “But jumping in after her isn’t going to help anyone!”

Alex gaped at the sight. Valarie could see why. The way they felt it, they would have been gone overnight, or at the very least a few minutes, but as they saw it, no time had passed.

Valarie began laughing, quietly at first but then began to laugh harder, and louder. Alex saw Bear and Jordan flinch before slowly turn to face where the sisters stood.

“AHAHAHAHA! I LOVE THIS LIBRARY!” Valarie cried to the heavens; fists raised in the air.

“Uh-uh-uh…” Bear blubbered as he stared open-mouthed at them.

“A-Alex?! V-V-Valarie?!” Jordan exclaimed.

“Yeah, it’s us,” Alex called to them. “We’re okay. Really.”

Neither didn’t look like he believed her—or that he believed they were really there.

“I’m kind of tired,” Alex continued when neither of them moved. . “Any chance we can get out of here now?”

Valarie couldn’t disagree more with her sister; she was on an adrenaline high and she was never coming down

Alex’s words, however, seemed to be the trigger to spring the boys into action, and without another word they quickly—but carefully—made their way over to them, looking up every so often as if to make sure that their eyes weren’t playing tricks on them.

They reached Valarie first, and in record time, as she then felt the breath leave her as first Jordan and then Bear enveloped her in a crushing hug, Alex following soon after.

“H-how—?” Bear stammered.

“Would you like to clarify that, B?” Valarie asked slyly.

“But, you were over there,” Jordan said, answering for bear and pointing to the centre of the room where the ominous black square had yet to change colour. “And you fell.”

The sisters laughed again, her good humour returning now that their feet were back on solid ground. “Yes, Captain Obvious, we were, and we did,” Alex told him.

“But—but you’re here now.”

“Indeed.” Valarie patted his head.

Jordan and Bear continued to gape at them, so Alex decided to go easy on them. “Let’s just get out of here and I’ll tell you what happened, okay?”

They nodded and she huffed in frustration before adding, “But only if you start acting normal again. We’re perfectly fine, so stop looking at us like I’m about to disappear or something.”

“Just do that for Alex because you know perfectly well I am capable of such a feat,” Valarie said matter-a-fact, earning a chorus of light-hearted chuckles.

That was apparently what they needed to hear since they both relaxed after that quip. Jordan even gave a mocking salute, causing Alex to go and kick him, however, she let him have enough time to dodge. Alex sighed.

“Let’s get going then,” She said to them.

“Um, about that…” Bear looked so guilty that Valarie just knew Alex was not going to like the next words out of Bear’s mouth. “We might not have been completely truthful with you before about this being the exit.”

Alex closed her eyes and counted to ten before she spoke. “Where is the exit, then?”

“It’s sort of—uh—” Jordan hesitated, winced, and quickly finished, “—back where we started.”

As one, all four of them turned to look across the room.

Valarie watched as Alex’s expression shifted into a one-hundred-yard stare.

“It was supposed to be fun,” Jordan added meekly. Valarie put a hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“Hey, you’ve had a long day, I’ll teleport us back.” She said to her. Alex looked to Valarie, staring at her as if she was the second coming of Christ.

“Thank you…” Alex breathed as she leant against a wall. “If we didn’t have you. I’d literally just begin willing a door to appear until…”

Alex stopped herself when they all noticed a door that had not been previously there.

“Okay, it’s not just me who’s seeing a door there right?” Jordan asked, pointing to the door next to Alex.

“Nope. Not just you.” Valarie answered him. Alex then turned the handle to the door and pulled back the door, revealing the foyer of the Library—only almost, because standing in their path was the grizzly librarian.

“So,” he said by way of greeting. “It would appear you have indeed been Chosen.”

Alex nodded cautiously but didn’t say anything.

He pursed his lips and squinted at her through his glasses as if judging her worthiness. Whatever he saw must have been enough since he soon relaxed his posture. “Very well,” he said, and without another word, he turned and hobbled back over to his desk as the foursome stepped through the door, which disappearing behind them.

“Well you two,” Valarie said, turning to Bear and Jordan, “Seems like Alex here bailed you out.”

“How?” Jordan asked.

“Because when I said I was going to teleport us out, I just meant Alex and myself.” Valarie smiled evilly as the look of betrayal washed over their faces.

* * *

After a quick visit to the Rec Room’s dining area, they all retreated to Jordan and Bear’s bedroom, where Alex began ingested copious amounts of chocolate whilst she and Valarie told them about everything that had happened on their little excursion

“Wow. That’s just… wow.”

Alex looked at Jordan. “Crazy, right?”

He snatched up another chocolate bar—his sixth—and peeled back the wrapper before taking a bite. “Definitely. You guys a bit of a freaky, you know. Why does all the weird stuff happen to you?”

His affectionate look took most of the sting out of his words.

“Well, I believe everything is just coming up peachy,” Valarie commented, downing another white chocolate strawberry. “I’ve got wicked space manipulation powers, and now a magical library at my beck and call. There’s no force in this world that could keep me away from there now.”

“Yeah, it’s totally awesome,” Bear said, leaning back on his bed. “I think our escapade possibilities just tripled!”

“Absolutely!” Jordan agreed, downing the rest of his chocolate and shoving the pile of empty wrappers off his blanket and onto the messy floor. “Imagine all the trouble we can get into!”

Alex suppressed a groan. “Don’t get ahead of yourselves,” she said. “We still don’t have any idea what all this Library stuff means.”

“Pff,” Valarie waved it off. “You’re just thinking of the magical destiny crap, focus on the now, as in: What could we do with a magical sentient library.”

“Val’s right, what’s left to know?” Jordan asked. “The legend is real, the Library likes you guys, and you’ve been chosen to share its secrets. Bear and me too, by extension. What do you reckon, mate?”

“That’s the gist I got,” Bear said. “Sounds pretty sweet to me!”

Valarie laughed. “Then all in favour of abusing this power we have been so graciously granted, say I!”

“I!”

“Then it is decreed, we shall have magnificent adventures and drag Alex along in suffering.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Alex asked.

“All in favour of letting Alex get a say in this?” Valarie asked.

“Nay!”

“I’m sorry Alex, but the council has spoken.”

“You need a better council then!” Alex laughed as she launched a pillow int Bear’s face, earning an “Oof!” from the surprised boy.

“Fine, we’ll go on adventures then…” Alex relented, “But I’m never going into that hopscotch room again though, you hear me?”

Both of the boys nodded, before Bear pointed out, “It wouldn’t matter anyway since you could just make another door appear.”

“I have no idea how I did that, so let’s not count on it happening again.”

“It’s simple really,” Valarie said while she and Jordan were trying to land strawberries into his mouth, “You wanted a door, and the Library gave you a door. Maybe I should ask for a map…”

“Hold on there Val, we don’t need you popping around a dimensionally-transcendent library!” Bear cried, as a moment of silence followed.

They burst out laughing at the over-exaggeration that they were all pretty sure Valarie would probably do. When they were calm again Bear asked, “So, when do we get to have our first Library adventure?”

Alex thought for a moment before saying, “I want to solve this Aven mystery first. Can we wait until the weekend? That gives me four more days. I’m sure I’ll find something by then.”

They hid their disappointment well—if Jordan’s pout, Bear’s sigh and Valarie’s full-out groan could be considered hidden expressions.

“The patience will be good for you,” Alex said, yawning. “All that chocolate has made me sleepy. Or maybe it was everything else that happened. Either way, I need to crash.”

She stood up and headed to the door, Valarie following glumly, only turning around to say, “Don’t forget, you can’t tell anyone about the Library.”

“You can count on us,” Jordan promised, waving her out of their room, as Valarie took ahold and popped them back into their own room.

* * *

It took all week, but by Saturday morning Alex had finished searching through all of the yearbooks from the previous fifteen years. She was sure Aven couldn’t have been older than that, but still, she’d found no trace of him anywhere.

The more she thought about it, the more Alex was convinced to just leave it alone. She might not ever see him again anyway, and for some strange reason, that made her feel oddly disappointed. There had just been something about him; something so… appealing. Half of her had been enamoured, and the other half… repulsed.

There was something else about him, too. Something not quite right. Alex remembered feeling the need to please him, to do whatever he asked of her. She’d never felt so compelled, so tempted, before in her life. She asked Valarie and she gave a similar answer. Even just thinking about the whole thing made her skin crawl, so she resolutely decided to let go of the entire Aven issue. It was time to move on.

“Hey, Valarie! Alex!” Jordan called out as he jogged over to them.

The two aforementioned girls were sitting underneath Alex’s favourite tree by the lake, enjoying the beautiful day and attempting to clear her head/throwing knives into a tree. Alex had no such luck in her endeavour, meaning she was glad for the distraction.

“What’s up, Jordan?” She greeted as the messy blonde approached.

“Ciao,” Valarie said as she flung another knife into the tree.

He took a seat beside her. “What are you guys doing for Kaldoras?”

“Kaldoras?” The foreign word triggered Alex’s memory of Darrius telling her about the Library and the upcoming annual holiday. “It’s sort of like Christmas, right?”

Jordan didn’t respond and opted for staring blankly.

“C’mon Jordan, I explained Christmas to you,” Valarie said, “It’s the one about the birth of that one religion’s god’s son. Then it somehow became something to do with gift-giving and Santa.”

“Oh right!” Jordan nodded. “Well, what are you doing for it?”

“Staying here,” Alex said, trying not to sound too miserable about it. “It’ll be a good chance to catch up on homework.” Eugh. What an awful prospect.

“How ’bout an alternative?” Bear asked as he appeared from behind them and sprawling onto the ground. “I was just talking to Mum and she told me to bring you home with us for the holidays. Ordered, more like. Once Mum starts insisting, you really don’t get much of a say in the matter.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Valarie cheered, “I have been dying to meet your families and see if they’re as eccentric as you. Also, I think food, because Jordan has been salivating more than usual lately.”

All of them glanced to Jordan just in time for him to snap out of a dreamy look and wipe a bit of saliva away from his mouth.

“You’re going with Bear?” Alex asked Jordan, suspecting he was.

“Sure am,” he answered as if it was a silly question. “Ever since I met Bear, I’ve spent Kaldoras with his family.”

“How come?”

“My folks are always busy around the holidays,” he said, sounding slightly bitter. “Fundraisers, royal galas, charity balls… the whole socialite shebang.”

Her eyes widened. “Your parents are socialites?”

“Never would have guessed, seeing as you…” Valarie gestured him up and down, “This.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he mumbled, not meeting her eyes.

Alex was curious and she found it difficult not to ask more questions. But she could tell that it was a sore subject, so she didn’t press him.

“In any case, I always meet up with them at the New Year’s Eve Gala,” Jordan said as if there had been no interruption. “My parents like to parade me around like a peacock, gushing over how talented I am and how proud they are.”

He paused before continuing in a quiet voice, “Three hundred and sixty-four days of the year they hardly know I exist. And then, for just one day, they act like I’m the centre of their universe.”

“Jordan…” Alex didn’t know what to say, so she just placed her hand on his arm.

“Jordan imma tell it to you straight.” Valarie said to him, “Your parents suck, and I hate them.”

Jordan smiled, “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t hold it against you.”

“And there are benefits,” Bear said, plucking a blade of grass and shredding it between his fingers. “The Gala is the biggest New Year’s event amongst the upper classes. Blackmail certainly has its perks.”

Jordan saw Alex’s confusion and he smiled again—a proper smile this time. “A few years ago I told my folks that if they wanted to drag me along to play the ‘happy family’ charade, then they had to let me bring whoever I wanted with me. Bear has come with me every year since and unless you have any objections, I’ll be dragging you guys along this year as well.”

“Ha!” Valarie cawed, “You have no idea how well I pull off a tux.”

“Well,” Jordan said, his eyes beginning to sparkle with anticipation, “I could be wrong, but I think someone promised us we’d check out the Library this weekend?”

Valarie whipped her head around to stare at Alex, a wild gleam in her eyes. Alex shuddered slightly.

“You know, where I come from, most teenage guys avoid libraries,” Alex said. “If you’re not careful, people might start to think you’ve become nerds.”

“Hey, now,” Bear said, feigning hurt. “We prefer the term ‘library folk’. It’s much less derogatory.”

Valarie, Alex and Jordan stared at him, before all four of them cracked up laughing.

“Library folk?” Jordan gasped out. “Where did you pull that one from?”

“I don’t know,” Bear said. “Must just be my superior wit.”

“Superior in what regard though?” Valarie ribbed.

“Well,” Jordan said, composing himself. “Let’s go and be library folk, shall we?”

* * *

It was only when they entered the foyer that they realised they had no idea where to start.

“Can’t you make another door appear or something?” Jordan asked.

“I told you,” Alex said, “I have no idea how I did that the first time. It was probably just a fluke.”

“Well if you can’t make one, let’s just take a gander around until something piques our interest, eh?” Valarie suggested. All of them nodded in agreement and begun their journey.

“Miss Jennings?”

Alex and Valarie turned when they heard their name called and noticed the librarian waving at her. After exchanging perplexed looks, the four friends headed in his direction.

“Good morning, sir,” Alex said.

“Yes, yes,” he muttered distractedly. “Might I ask what you and your friends are doing?”

“Exploring the library,” Valarie said flatly.

He raised a bushy eyebrow. “Oh? Might I then suggest starting with the stairs?”

Alex nodded dumbly, “Thank you, sir.”

“Where are we going?” Jordan asked as Alex led the way to the staircase.

Alex shrugged, causing Valarie to sigh. “He suggested the stairs,” Valarie told them, “I have a feeling he’s letting on more than he knows."

Partway through their trek down the stairs, Alex noticed something strange. “Does anything seem different to you guys?”

They of them paused and the others looked at her questioningly.

“Nothing?” Alex asked. “Never mind, then.”

They continued their descent until her sister and friends finally noticed what she’d already observed.

“Why are there so many stairs?” Jordan asked.

The study level of the Library was only a short trip down from the foyer and that was where the staircase ended. For some reason, even though they were on the same stairs that should have taken them to that level, they had already descended much further down—at least four floors so far—without passing any kind of exit.

“Fascinating,” Bear murmured, tapping his knuckles against the solid stone wall.

“I can see what you mean now, Alex,” Valarie said to her.

They continued walking down until finally, they reached a dead end.

“I wonder what—” Alex started to ask just as all three of them stepped off the stairs and onto the stone floor. Her words were cut off when the torches blew out and darkness surrounded them.

“That’s just great,” she said. “I don’t suppose anyone brought a flashlight?” Alex asked.

“Oh, I can make one, Alex, hang on a sec,” Valarie said to her. Ever since the last time they needed, one Valarie had been practising making essential equipment. A few seconds later she had a heavy-duty flashlight in her hands.

Before she could use it, however, the lights flickered back on and she was no longer on the staircase and her friends were nowhere in sight. Instead, she was in a very long hallway, doors stretching along either side, coving the walls. Each of the doors looked slightly different, some even looking vastly obscure like being made out of cloud.

Valarie dismissed the torch and began walking through the torch-lit corridor. Valarie wondered where the library had dropped her off, and why it hadn’t allowed her friends and sister to come with her. Wait, was the library pranking her? Did I know how to prank?

Clanging metal footsteps caught her attention as she turned to find Alex barrelling towards her.

“Alex?” She asked quizzically.

“Run!” Alex shouted as she approached. Valarie looked behind her sister and saw a headless empty suit of armour with an axe chasing after her.

“Oh shit,” Valarie remarked as they approached. Alex ran passed her and Valarie stood in the path of the armour in a wide stance as they raised the axe. Alex stopped and turned around.

“Valarie, what are you doing?!” She called.

“Something stupid!” She called back. “God, I hope this works…”

Valarie focused upon the armour’s descending axe before stretching out her own hands. A moment later the armour’s empty hands collided with the axe Valarie was now holding.

“Yes! It worked!” she cheered.

“You didn’t know if that would work?!” Alex exclaimed.

“Trial by fire Al,” Valarie said back, dodging a swing by the armour as it tried to reclaim its axe. Valarie swung back, sending vibrations through her body when the axe collided with the suit.

“Fuck this thing is dense…”

“Valarie!” Alex called, drawing her attention. She was waving a helmet around that looked as if it belonged to the suit of armour she was now fighting. Valarie’s eyes widened as realization sunk in at what Alex was insinuating.

Raising her hand again, Valarie used her newly christened technique to warp Alex and the helmet she was holding over to her.

“Why’d you teleport me here?!” Alex exclaimed before clutching her stomach, the sick feeling from teleporting hitting her.

“Because I'm sort of busy!” Valarie replied. “Do it whilst I distract it!”

Recovering, Alex wobbly moved towards the suit of armour Valarie was tussling with, and slammed the helmet down on the open hole in the chestplate.

A flash of blinding light filled the room and the sisters were once again thrown into the wall. When the light faded and they recovered from their daze, they gaped at the sight in front of them.

“I can’t believe that actually worked.” Alex breathed.


End file.
